While a burial team attempted to collect a man’s body from a city street in Monrovia, the man awakened, but his prompt care as a “dead” man stands in stark contrast to the care he didn’t receive while he was alive.
RELATED: Officials: Ebola Is ‘Threat To Liberia’s National Existence’
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Almost a month ago, Face2Face Africa reported that Ebola patients were being turned away by hospitals and medical facilities in Liberia due to a lack of beds and resources to treat victims.
Tragically, the video in the article showed would-be patients laying listlessly in front of hospitals desperate for care.
This current reality was underscored yet again by a 37-year-old Liberian who had reportedly been laying by a roadway in Monrovia for days.
A community leader in the area told ABC News that he and other concerned citizens had been trying to get help for the man, but no one ever responded.
When it seemed clear that the man had died, though, the aforementioned burial team reportedly arrived within the hour to take his body away to the crematorium.
In the video, one can see the team spraying his body down with bleach and wrapping him in a blanket to place him in black, plastic sheet.
But then the man moves his arm, prompting an onlooker to yell, “He is alive!” and spectators burst into cheers.
The community member added, “We couldn’t get him help when he was alive. They only come when you die.”
The burial crew then gently unwraps his body and places him in his former position.
About 10 minutes later, an ambulance arrives to take the man to a health facility, but ABC News’ Dr. Richard Besser explains, “The problem is, there’s a lot more room for dead bodies than there are for those who need treatment. So when they thought he had died, it was very easy to come and collect him, but now the ambulance is here, they have to figure out where to take him. And resources for treating people with Ebola are very scarce here in Monrovia.”
Watch the man come to life here:
SEE ALSO: Sierra Leone Ebola Burial Teams Face Extreme Danger But Persevere
