Badass Woman of the Day: Liberian 22-year-old saves family from Ebola

Fatu Kekula (Photo credit: John Bonifield/CNN)

This is what resilience looks like. Fatu Kekula is a 22-year-old Liberian nurse-in-training who saved three out of four relatives who were struck by the Ebola virus. Unable to get them treatment at a hospital, Kekula spent two weeks caring for her father, mother, sister, and cousin on her own. Without any professional protective gear, she improvised her own system using trash bags and successfully avoided becoming infected herself. 

CNN reports that “international aid workers heard about Fatu’s ‘trash bag method’ and are now teaching it to other West Africans who can’t get into hospitals and don’t have protective gear of their own.” As UNICEF spokeswoman Sarah Crowe said, “Essentially this is a tale of how communities are doing things for themselves. Our approach is to listen and work with communities and help them do the best they can with what they have.”

Her father says of the daughter who saved his life: “I’m sure she’ll be a great giant of Liberia.” No doubt.

Maya Dusenbery is an Executive Director of Feministing.