Man Thought to Have Died From Ebola Awakens After Burial Team Wraps Him Up
Burial team discovers man is alive after wrapping him in plastic.
— -- MONROVIA, Liberia -- Amid the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, it's easier to get help if you are dead than if you are alive.
My producer and I were driving back from an assignment in Monrovia, where we filmed this morning's "Good Morning America" segment, when we saw a burial team working along the roadway surrounded by crowds of angry locals.
A community leader said they had been trying to get help for the dead man for days, but no ambulance ever came. When the man died, a burial team came in an hour.
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We watched as the burial team suited up and approached the body lying against a wall. They sprayed it down with bleach and moved it to a black, plastic sheet and began to wrap it up.
"We couldn't get him help when he was alive," a community leader told me. "They only come when you die."
Just then, the dead man moved his arm -- just a little, but clearly a sign of life.
"He's alive," someone yelled.
The burial team unwrapped him and put him back on the ground. The man was alive but looked like he would only last a few more hours.
About ten minutes later, an ambulance pulled up and a separate team of health workers loaded him into the back.
The crowd went wild cheering.
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