The Path Back
Blood loss clouded her vision as they rushed her silent newborn away for oxygen. For Nurse Esther Samura, that moment – suspended between life and death – changed everything. Today, sixteen years later, that same baby who almost didn't breathe has become "the pioneer of everything good" in their family.
"I thought I was losing him," she remembers, her voice still carrying the echo of that fear. Seven years after her first child, this pregnancy had stretched beyond term, forcing an induced labor that nearly claimed both their lives.
"I was bleeding profusely," she recalls. "They had to elevate my feet. I received two units of blood. I couldn't even take care of my baby because of the dizziness." Through the haze of blood loss, she watched them rush her silent baby away for oxygen.
A crucial sodium bicarbonate injection saved her son's life, though finding it proved difficult. A nurse came to their rescue, giving them emergency supplies from the hospital stores. "Between my two children, he is the brilliant child," she beams. "The way he thinks... he is the pioneer of everything good in our family. He sits me down, 'Mommy, let's go this way, let's do this.'"
After seventeen years of nursing, including twelve years serving rural communities, Esther found her calling in mental health care at Sierra Leone's psychiatric hospital. Her approach comes from understanding vulnerability firsthand. "I'm finding myself very attached to these patients," she says. "You realize that no one is 100% sure they won't find themselves in that position one day. The people here, they are not the ones who took themselves here."
She creates family where others might see only illness. "At times I just get up and say, 'You gather your things, let's go and do the laundry.' I supervise them, help them wash their things." Her voice brightens as she describes their response: "These people become so cheerful. If they know you're good to them, they're the first to say, 'Nurse, good morning! We didn't see you this weekend.'"
Her brush with death shapes her vision for women's healthcare. "No woman should die of any condition related to women's business, especially gynecological problems," she states firmly. "I want women to have facility to be tested, at least for free. To know their condition before it leads to death or trauma."