LANDOVER HILLS, Md. (AP) – A surgeon who died of Ebola after treating patients in his native Sierra Leone will be remembered in the suburbs of Washington, where his family lives.
Forty-four-year-old Dr. Martin Salia (SAH’-lee-uh) died earlier this month at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. His body was cremated. A funeral Mass will be held Saturday at his family’s parish in Landover Hills, Maryland. Salia is survived by his wife and two sons.
Salia didn’t receive aggressive treatment until nearly two weeks after he developed Ebola symptoms. Experts said that delay likely made it impossible to save his life.
Salia was a permanent U.S. resident who chose to work in Sierra Leone, where there is a glaring need for surgeons.
The virus has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa.