Cameroon trained Dr. Martin Salia dies in Omaha

Martin Salia, the surgeon who died Monday in Nebraska after aggressive treatment for Ebola, was so devoted to his profession that he continued to work in his native Sierra Leone despite the virus outbreak, a friend said.

“He honestly believed God wanted him to do this,” said Bruce Steffes, a former Fayetteville surgeon who now runs Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons, where Salia trained.

“He knew Ebola was there and went anyway,” Steffes said. “I suspect, if he’d had the chance, he’d do it all over again.”

Salia, 44, contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone. He died Monday after receiving treatment at a Nebraska hospital over the weekend.

Salia had been working as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It is not clear if he was working directly with Ebola patients.

He had received negative results from two Ebola tests, Steffes said. Salia was diagnosed with the virus Nov. 6.

By the time he arrived at the Omaha hospital on Saturday, he was in extremely critical condition with no kidney function and severe respiratory problems.

He was placed on kidney dialysis and a ventilator, and was given several medications to support his organ systems, the hospital said in a statement.

He was given the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp on Saturday and received a plasma transfusion from an Ebola survivor – a treatment that is believed to provide antibodies to fight the virus.

Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Five other doctors in Sierra Leone have contracted Ebola, and all have died.

Salia graduated from medical school in Sierra Leone in 2000, Steffes said. He had worked at two or three hospitals in that region.

Salia trained to be a general surgeon through the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons in Cameroon, which is west of Sierra Leone.

The academy uses rural African Missions Hospitals to train African doctors to become general surgeons.

Salia studied through the academy from 2004 to 2008.

“He was quiet, dedicated and loved to operate,” Steffes said. “If a case came up, even on a night off, he’d come in to help.”

For every year the doctors spend training through the academy, they are asked to give one year of service. Salia’s obligation to the academy ended in 2012, but he chose to continue to serve people in Sierra Leone, Steffes said.

“He continued to try to improve himself,” Steffes said. “He wanted to go back to Sierra Leone to help his people.”