Lance-Corporal Victoria Atherton has played a role in the fight to control the outbreak in West Africa
‘I DON’T think of myself as being very adventurous,’ Victoria Atherton says.
It’s a modest statement from the St Brelade Army Reservist who has just received a medal for her work during the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone.
Earlier this year, as the epidemic ravaged Western Africa, prompting the World Health Organisation to declare Ebola a ‘public health emergency of international concern’, Lance-Corporal Atherton joined the humanitarian effort to stem the spread of the disease.
The 46-year-old was part of Operation Gritrock, the Military of Defence element of the support that the UK government offered to help with the epidemic in the country.
At its height, with the number of deaths soaring into the thousands and pictures of the victims of the virus splashed across the world’s media, fears of the epidemic were apparent. Air passengers thought to have the disease were removed from planes by officials in protective suits while countries tightened their borders in an attempt to prevent Ebola from reaching their shores.
Even Jersey was not removed from the worries of the epidemic that was raging three thousand miles away, and had an action plan in place in case, against all probabilities, someone carrying Ebola reached the Island.
With this as a background, Lance-Corporal Atherton, who joined the Army Reserves eight years ago, said she knew that she may be called upon because her skills as a microbiologist would prove useful in the fight against the disease.
‘I’ve been a member of the Army Reserves for a while and there was talk that the Army might go and help,’ the Hospital worker, who had never previously been called up, said. ‘If you didn’t want to go you could opt out. Because of my skills, I had a vague idea my call-up papers were going to come, so I wasn’t too surprised when they did.’
Lance-Corporal Atherton was given a month to say goodbye to husband Leighton Jenkins along with family and friends before she began her training for the operation, which was led by the UK Department for International Development.
The first part of that training took place in Chilwell in the East Midlands.
‘It was to make sure you were fit and able,’ she said. ‘We did two weeks of physical tests, shooting, map reading – soldier-type tests. One of the tests we had to do was to carry a
15 kg pack for six miles inside 90 minutes.
‘They were the same tests that you would have done if you went to Afghanistan. If you passed you went on to York. Some people didn’t pass.’
In York, Lance Corporal Atherton was able to practise in similar conditions to the laboratory at Kerry Town Treatment Unit, where she would later be based.
‘They have got a big hangar and made it look like the Kerry Town Treatment Unit,’ she said. ‘We practised standard operating procedures and putting on the personal protective equipment.’
Following a further two weeks of training, Lance-Corporal Atherton was allowed a little time off before flying on 19 February from RAF Brize Norton to Lungi International Airport in Sierra Leone.
‘It was hot,’ she said, describing her first impressions of entering the country. ‘You had to wash your hands in bleach queuing up for passport control. It was a common thing to do. But all those horror stories of people being ill in the streets, we didn’t see any of that.
‘There were a lot of posters advising people to care for themselves and their families. Driving through the country, we could see it was poor. There weren’t that many people on the streets, but I’m not sure if that was common or not.’
During her nine weeks in the country, she analysed the blood samples of patients already diagnosed with Ebola. Her job was to check the make-up of the blood, including levels of fluids and electrolytes, to help medics to treat those who were ill.
‘All the work was carried out in an isolator, which is essentially a big plastic bubble a bit bigger than a desk,’ she said. ‘We put our hands into gloves that went into the isolator. In total there were four layers of gloves. The lab was air-conditioned but it was
31 degrees Celsius in the cabinet. You could have your arms in there for three hours without a break.’
While she was in Sierra Leona, a medical worker at the unit became infected with Ebola. ‘It made everyone very concerned,’ Lance Corporal Atherton admitted, ‘but we were all well trained and once they finished caring for their colleague, they carried on treating the other people in the unit.’
Lance-Corporal Atherton, who moved to Jersey 20 years ago, stressed that because there were so many safety measures in place, and because she never came into contact with patients, due to her work being consigned to the lab, there was no time when she felt concerned for her own safety.
When people recovered from the virus, there was a celebration at the unit. ‘We had survivor ceremonies when people left. If we knew someone had come in and had recovered, we would go over and join in with the dancing and singing. Normally the survivor would say something. The ceremonies were lovely.’
During her time in Sierra Leone, Lance-Corporal Atherton stayed at Benguema, an old Army camp. ‘It was fairly basic but we did have air-con in our room, and Wi-Fi and decent food. But the showers were quite basic and the water was in limited supply.
‘Because we had the Wi-Fi, I think I spoke to my husband more than I do when I’m at home!’ she joked. ‘People sent me parcels and would keep me up to date with emails and letters. But I did miss some home comforts, like a really nice shower, toast and a decent cup of tea.’
Last week Lance-Corporal Atherton received the Ebola Medal for service in West Africa, which was given to everyone involved in Operation Gritrock, in a ceremony at
Aldershot attended by Prince William.
Lance-Corporal Atherton, who got to speak to the prince, said: ‘He was asking about the lab and what the safety equipment was like. He was interested in how we felt about what we were testing for.
‘My mum was ecstatic because she got to shake the Duke of Cambridge’s hand!’
According to the latest figures, since March 2014 a total of 11,315 people have died from Ebola in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the United States and Mali, since March 2014. A total of 3,955 died in Sierra Leone alone.
However, on 7 November Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free –something Lance-Corporal Atherton said was ‘brilliant to know’.
She added: ‘Although it was tough passing the tests and the training, everybody worked hard and achieved the aim, which was to stem the number of cases. To be part of that was amazing.’
