26 Facts About Matthew Lukwiya

Matthew Lukwiya was a Ugandan physician and the supervisor of St Mary's Hospital Lacor, outside of Gulu.

Matthew Lukwiya was at the forefront of the 2000 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Uganda until he died from the disease.

Matthew Lukwiya's mother was a petty trader who smuggled tea across the border with Sudan to trade for soap.

Matthew Lukwiya came in at the top of his class in grade school, received the top school-leaving marks in the country, going on to attend university and medical school through a series of scholarships.

Matthew Lukwiya took a position as a medical intern at St Mary's, a Catholic missionary hospital, in 1983.

Matthew Lukwiya soon came to be known to his colleagues and patients as "Dr Matthew".

Matthew Lukwiya managed to convince the rebels to take him instead and spent a week wandering through the brush in his physician's gown until the rebels released him.

Matthew Lukwiya subsequently opened the gates of the hospital compound to people seeking a place to sleep that was safe from rebel attacks and abduction.

Matthew Lukwiya played an unpublicised role in advocating for a peaceful solution to the war.

In 1990, Matthew Lukwiya earned a scholarship to earn a master's degree in tropical paediatrics in Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

In December 1998, Matthew Lukwiya moved his family to the capital city, Kampala, far from the violence of the northern war.

In 1999, Matthew Lukwiya, always a church-going Protestant, took his born-again wife to a Pentecostal church and declared that he too was born again.

Opira asked Matthew Lukwiya for help and he arrived that evening, in time to witness the death of a third nursing student, Daniel Ayella.

Matthew Lukwiya had head nurse Sister Maria Di Santo bring him the charts of all unusual deaths in the past two weeks and identified 17 cases with similar symptoms.

Matthew Lukwiya immediately recognised this as a particular problem in Acholiland, where the traditional practice was for the bereaved family to wash the body of the deceased before burial.

Matthew Lukwiya ignored the usual bureaucratic protocols and placed a direct call to Dr Sam Okware, Uganda's Commissioner of Community Health Services, who dispatched a team from the Uganda Virus Research Institute to take blood samples.

Matthew Lukwiya ordered other nurses to assist the patients and tried to lead by example, working with Ebola patients from 7 am to 8 pm.

When Matthew Lukwiya rushed down to ask what they wanted, at least one nurse yelled that the hospital should be closed.

Matthew Lukwiya silenced the nurses, most of whom he had trained himself, by stating that if the hospital closed he would leave Gulu and never return.

Matthew Lukwiya then spoke on how he had let himself be abducted by the rebels rather than risk St Mary's and that they would be responsible for the deaths that would result if the hospital closed.

Matthew Lukwiya then astonished and terrified the night-shift by rising to his feet and staggering into the hallway.

Woken out of bed, Matthew Lukwiya put on protective clothing, mask, cap, gown, apron and two pairs of gloves, but not goggles or a face shield to protect the eyes.

Matthew Lukwiya told her that he had a "terrible flu".

Matthew Lukwiya's fever grew worse through the day, a Monday, and by Wednesday was vomiting and Dr Pierre Rollin of the CDC took blood samples for testing.

Matthew Lukwiya died at 1:20 am on Tuesday, 5 December 2000.

Matthew Lukwiya was the last health worker at St Mary's to die from Ebola.