As they sometimes do, TIME has selected a group of people as their 2014 Person of the Year.
In light of an outbreak that spread over to the United States and other parts of the world, TIME has named “The Ebola Fighters” as their 2014 Person of the Year.
TIME editor Nancy Gibbs said their decision came down to the fact that these people who fought the virus are heroes who are helping to stop a country from crumbling.
“[…] 2014 is the year an outbreak turned into an epidemic, powered by the very progress that has paved roads and raised cities and lifted millions out of poverty. This time it reached crowded slums in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone; it traveled to Nigeria and Mali, to Spain, Germany and the U.S. It struck doctors and nurses in unprecedented numbers, wiping out a public-health infrastructure that was weak in the first place. One August day in Liberia, six pregnant women lost their babies when hospitals couldn’t admit them for complications. Anyone willing to treat Ebola victims ran the risk of becoming one,” Gibbs wrote on TIME’s website on Wednesday.
At their website you can read profiles about the types of people who have fought ebola and learn more about TIME’s decision.
As previously reported, TIME’s 2014 Person of the Year shortlist included Apple CEO Tim Cook, artist Taylor Swift, the Ferguson protestors, and Roger Goodell.
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