Maine-based international aid nurse Kaci Hickox says the honor bestowed on her and others by Time Magazine is important because it highlights the hard work still being done by thousands of people in West Africa, and elsewhere, to combat the deadly Ebola virus.
Time has collectively honored all Ebola fighters of 2014 as its "Person of the Year."
Hickox - who volunteered as a nurse in Sierra Leone earlier this year - says that while material and financial help are crucial, none of it would work without human volunteers.
"You know, you can build a clinic all day long," she says, "but if you don't have staff that are trained and understand how to run that clinic safely, then you're still not meeting the needs of Ebola."
Hickox defied state-imposed quarantines after returning from West Africa, where she had treated Ebola patients. She said she was acting on behalf of all health care workers who returned after working to contain the disease.
