Come, Let Me Die with You (3)

The road to Peima, Kono District

After Tamba shared Finda’s story in our class about Christian Perfection, another of my students, Isaac, shared one more story.  It’s the story of Foday, a paramedic (so to speak) also in Kono district.

One day during the ebola crisis, Foday was called to pick up a family and take them to the hospital.  All the family members had contracted ebola, including the children.  He went to transport them to the hospital.  And somewhere along the way, one of the children, a boy about eight years old, fell down.  I’m not sure if it was on the walk to the car or the walk into the facility.  Somewhere along the way, the boy fell.  The paramedic saw him fall and coaxed the boy to get up.  But the boy was too weak.  He couldn’t make it up.

At this moment Foday had a choice to make.  He knew that if he touched the boy, that would increase his risk of contracting the disease.  So in that split second he had to decide if his life was worth losing in order to pick up this boy and take him into the hospital.  And in that split second, he decided.

He bent down and picked up the boy and carried him in.

Along the way, the boy vomited on Foday.  

(When Isaac was telling this story in class, at this point every person in the room groaned.  We all knew what that meant.)

A few days later Foday came down with fever and he died not long after.

Life is worth the living.  Life is worth dying for.  This is perfect love.