Nina Pham was moved to a National Institutes of Health facility in Maryland on Thursday for better Ebola treatment, but released a heartwarming video from her Dallas hospital room just before her trip.
"Come to Maryland, everybody. Party in Maryland," the 26-year-old nurse tells the camera. "I love you guys," she adds, with happy tears inspired by her supporters.
"We love you, Nina," responds her treating physician, Dr. Gary Weinstein. "We're really proud of you," he says, thanking her for helping treat Thomas Duncan, the Liberian man who died from the disease on October 8.
According to The Chicago Tribune, Pham volunteered to be "his primary nurse" when Duncan was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital late last month.
"They have an entire unit of ICU nurses and she was selected because she is brilliant and she is able to handle these very intense situations calmly," said Jennifer Joseph, one of Pham's co-workers.
On Thursday afternoon, Pham was escorted by ambulance to the airport, and scores of co-workers and supporters sent her off with applause and brightly colored signs of encouragement. Hours later, she arrived at a National Institutes of Health facility in Maryland without incident.
"She was not scared to care for Mr. Duncan," explained Kim Tran, a friend of Pham’s mother. "She said, 'Mom, don’t worry about me — the hospital is taking care of all of us, the nurses.' Even at the risk of being on the unit she did not back out. She did not hesitate."
Duncan was Pham's sole patient, and Joseph reported that "She was essentially his only friend during those last days."
She said Pham was respectful of patient confidentiality and didn't talk much about Duncan until he allowed the hospital to release information about him and his case.
"She told me about some of the interactions she had and told me he was nice," said Joseph.
Pham's coworker Amber Vinson, 29, who was also caring for Duncan and also contracted the Ebola virus from him, was moved Wednesday from the Dallas hospital to an infectious disease center at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
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