Nina Pham, a Dallas nurse, was the first person known to have contracted the Ebola virus in the United States
Pham held a news conference in Bethesda after she was declared virus-free and released from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (NIH).
“I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today. I would first and foremost like to thank God, my family and friends,” she said.
“Throughout this ordeal I have put my trust in God and my medical team. I am on my way back to recovery even as I reflect on how many others have not been so fortunate,” added Pham, 26, who grew up in Our Lady of Fatima parish in Fort Worth, Texas, where she and her family have been long-time members.
She was “thankful for everyone involved in my care,” she said, “from the moment I became ill and was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas up to today,” when she was being discharged from NIH.
After she was released from the hospital, she paid a visit to President Barack Obama in the Oval Office at the White House.
Pham was involved in the care of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan prior to his death on October 8.
Duncan contracted Ebola in his home country of Liberia and had travelled to the Dallas hospital where he was being treated.