Just yesterday we were wondering if Time magazine would make sense out of its unusual short list of contenders for its 2014 Person of the Year, and thankfully its end game is rooted in logic. For a second there it looked like Vladimir Putin, with his ill-prepared Sochi Olympic Games and war with Ukraine actually had a chance at the title. Thankfully, Time announced this morning that the Ebola fighters have been named the 2014 Person of the Year.
Since late August, the U.S. has panicked as some of our own stricken caregivers, such as Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly in Liberia, have been transported back home to the States, where their hopes of survival are better. Nurses like Nina Pham and Amber Vinson were not properly trained to care for Ebola patients and ended up with the illness themselves. Adding insult to injury, the CDC went so far as to try to blame them for getting sick. The irony is that each caregiver has thought nothing of going back to work after their own recovery. When asked if they would care for another Ebola patient, the response has immediately been yes.
That is why the Ebola fighters deserve to be named Time's 2014 Person of the Year. The magazine could not explain its decision any better than in saying:
"Ebola is a war, and a warning. The global health system is nowhere close to strong enough to keep us safe from infectious disease, and 'us' means everyone, not just those in faraway places where this is one threat among many that claim lives every day. The rest of the world can sleep at night because a group of men and women are willing to stand and fight. For tireless acts of courage and mercy, for buying the world time to boost its defenses, for risking, for persisting, for sacrificing and saving, the Ebola fighters are TIME's 2014 Person of the Year."
Do you agree with Time's choosing of the Ebola fighters as its Person of the Year? If not, then who do you think was more deserving of the honor? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
