Kent Brantly

“Ebola's a terrifying disease.”

“I know that some consider it controversial for me to claim that God saved my life when I had received an experimental drug and some of the greatest medical care available in the world. I can see how these two realities appear to contradict each other.”

“Just like medicine anywhere else, I get to walk through life with people in the midst sometimes of their most difficult and challenging circumstances they've faced - a terminal diagnosis, bad news, poor prognosis - and also the most joyful times with people, like the birth of a new baby.”

“I've thought a lot about the moment when I was infected with Ebola.”

“Losing so many patients certainly was difficult, but it didn't make me feel like a failure as a physician, because I had learned that there was so much more to being a physician than curing illness. That's not the most important thing we do. The most important thing we do is enter into the suffering of others.”

“Through the care of the Samaritan's Purse and SIM missionary team in Liberia, the use of an experimental drug, and the expertise and resources of the health care team at Emory University Hospital, God saved my life - a direct answer to thousands and thousands of prayers.”

“The nature of Ebola is that health-care workers are predominantly affected because of the way that it is spread.”

“My wife Amber and I, along with our two children, did not move to Liberia for the specific purpose of fighting Ebola.”

“Please continue to pray for and bring attention to those suffering in the ongoing Ebola crisis in West Africa.”

“On Octover 16th, 2013, I moved to Liberia with my family to serve as a medical missionary at ELWA Hospital in the capital city of Morovia.”

“Ebola has changed everything in West Africa. We cannot sit back and say, 'Oh, those poor people.' We must think outside the box and find ways to help.”

“When you go a week without seeing a human face, that does something to you.”

“You are going to share in the most intimate parts of your patients' lives. You will share in their moments of tragedy. But you will also share in their moments of greatest joy.”

“I am very convinced that I did not contract Ebola in the isolation unit, because our process is so safe.”

“God blessed me with a peace that surpasses understanding.”

“Even with the bad news, I felt calm. I never shed a tear when I called my wife and said, 'Amber, my test is positive. I have Ebola.'”

“Even when I was facing death, I remained full of faith. I did not want to be faithful to God all the way up to serving in Liberia for ten months, only to give up at the end because I was sick.”

“Pray for the people of West Africa. You cannot be apathetic towards people for whom you are earnestly praying.”

“When a person survives Ebola, when they recover, they're not a carrier of the virus.”

“I've had time to reflect on what happened to me. Am I the same person I was before Ebola? In a lot of ways, yes. I don't live every moment with a conscious awareness of what I've been through.”