Ms Flomo arrived at an Ebola treatment centre in Suakoko having been sick for a week. She was driven to the facility by her parents and was bleeding profusely after having given birth to Diana just two hours before.
As staff arrived to help Ms Flomo, her parents revealed that her boyfriend Emmanuel Dormeyan, the baby’s father, had recently been treated for Ebola. The couple were told to wait outside the gate, while a masked man soaked the ground around them with chlorine.
A doctor, wearing protective clothing, then opened the back door of the car and examined the woman. She was pronounced dead there and then. The baby's grandfather, teacher John Yarkpawolo, 66, later told the New York Times:
“Every time somebody’s sick, people say Ebola. People are afraid.”
A doctor, wearing protective clothing, then opened the back door of the car and examined the woman. She was pronounced dead there and then. The baby's grandfather, teacher John Yarkpawolo, 66, later told the New York Times:
“Every time somebody’s sick, people say Ebola. People are afraid.”
His wife, trained midwife Annie Yarkpawolo, 64, a trained midwife, recalled how she had received a phone call two nights earlier at their home in Gbarnga from her daughter's partner Mr Dormeyan.
He told her he was he was bringing Ms Flomo from their home in Monrovia, more than four hours away. After asking what was wrong, she was told:
“Your daughter can’t hear me, can hardly understand, can’t eat for a week."
The next morning, he dropped off Ms. Flomo, who was eight months pregnant and sold market goods in Monrovia.
A day later, she suddenly gave birth and began bleeding. Mrs Yarkpawolo told the newspaper: "She were bleeding, bleeding, water running."
Doctors were unsure whether Ms Flomo had died from Ebola but the clinic did not have equipment to test for the virus after death.
They feared that if she did have the illness, then her baby could have been infected.
A day later, she suddenly gave birth and began bleeding. Mrs Yarkpawolo told the newspaper: "She were bleeding, bleeding, water running."
Doctors were unsure whether Ms Flomo had died from Ebola but the clinic did not have equipment to test for the virus after death.
They feared that if she did have the illness, then her baby could have been infected.
Team leader Sean Casey sought advice from medical charity Doctors Without Borders and medics attempted to feed the baby with boiled water and powdered baby formula.
But the baby was not sucking and four days after her short life began she vomited and died. She was buried just a few yards away from her mother.
But the baby was not sucking and four days after her short life began she vomited and died. She was buried just a few yards away from her mother.
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