Google honours Stella Adadevoh on her 62nd posthumous birthday

chika ebuzor

October 27, 2018 11:17 AM

Adadevoh, who was born on October 27, 1956, died in August 2014, after curbing the spread of the Ebola virus through her heroic effort.

Tech giant, Google has honoured Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh on her 62nd posthumous birthday with a doodle.

A doodle is the temporary replacement of the Google logo on its homepage to celebrate holidays, events, achievements or people.

How she died

Dr. Adadevoh in July 2014, came with contact with a Liberian diplomat, Patrick Sawyer, who came to Nigeria for a conference in Calabar, Cross-River state, at the First Consultants Medical Centre (FCMC) in Lagos state.

Sawyer had tested positive to Ebola, left quarantine in Liberia to attend the conference in Cross-River state.

The diplomat was rushed to FCMC after he collapsed at the airport. Adadevoh, during her ward rounds suspected that he had Ebola, despite the initial diagnosis of Malaria by another doctor.

She requested that a test be run on Sawyer, and also insisted that he should be placed on quarantine till the results arrive.

Despite pressure from the Liberian government and threats to sue her, the doctor refused to let the diplomat go.

Instead, according to Wikipedia, she built a wooden barricade around Sawyer’s door to create an isolation area.

Adadevoh later tested positive to Ebola on August 4, 2014, as a result of her contact with the diplomat and later died on August 19, 2014.

What is Ebola

According to Wikipedia, “Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) or simply Ebola, is a viral hemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses. Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, sore throat, muscular pain, and headaches. Vomiting, diarrhea and rash usually follow, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys."

The World Health Organisation (WHO), stated that 20 cases and 8 deaths were recorded during the 2014 Ebola crisis in Nigeria.

Over 500 persons who came in contact with the carriers were monitored and declared free of the virus by the Nigerian ministry of health.

On October 20, 2014, WHO declared Nigeria Ebola free.

Medical career

Dr. Adadevoh studied Medicine at the University of Lagos where she graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery.

After her housemanship and residency at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Adadevoh went to London to complete her fellowship in endocrinology at Hammersmith Hospital.

Until her death, she served as the Lead Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist at the First Consultants Medical Center in Lagos state, according to Wikipedia.

Dr. Adadevo is said to be the grand-niece of Nigeria's first President, Nnamdi Azikiwe and also, a great grand-daughter of Herbert Samuel Macaulay, a prominent Nigerian nationalist, known as the founder of modern Nigeria.

Saraki hails Adadevoh

Senate President Bukola Saraki, in a statement on Twitter on Saturday, October 27, 2018, also described late Dr. Adadevoh as a hero.

Saraki said "Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh was a true Nigerian hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our nation and all its people. We join all Nigerians to celebrate her life today, on the commemoration of her posthumous birthday."

As at May 2016, it is estimated that over 11,00 died from Ebola in West-Africa, since it was first reported in Guinea in December 2013.

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