Amid the dangerous medical  situation in Ebola-stricken Liberia, a dedicated Massachusetts doctor decided to go back to resume his work as an obstetrician in a hospital ward in Monrovia until he fell ill and contracted the deadly Ebola virus.

Dr. Richard A. Sacra, 51, is a family doctor who trained and worked at Worcester but spent the past 20 years taking care of mothers in Liberia. Sacra was not treating Ebola patients but was working in an obstetrics ward when he became ill.

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Sacra is the third American to have been stricken with Ebola. The first two Americans, Dr.Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol recovered from the illness after being treated at the Emory University hospital in Atlanta.

Reports said Sacra isolated himself after developing a high fever last Friday. Later tests confirmed that the doctor has been stricken with the Ebola virus, a statement from his family said.

Sacra's colleagues in Massachusetts expressed concern and care for the doctor, praising him for his charity work in the hospital and hoping that he will get better soon.

"I'm scared, I'm sad," said Dr. Virginia Van Duyne, a family medicine practitioner and professor at the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Sacra earned his medical degree in the University and serves in the faculty.

Van Duyne broke down in a news conference and said that Sacra has been a mentor to her in past years. She added that she spent a few months working with Sacra and was inspired by how he was able to relate to his patients and explain to them their illnesses.

Dr. Warren Ferguson, a  family medicine and community health  professor, said Sacra returned to Worcester about five times in two decades, each time staying for a year or two.

He had been staying in his family's residence in Massachusetts for a year, making trips to Liberia occasionally when he received the news that two of his health workers had been downed by Ebola.

Sacra immediately flew to Liberia on August 1 and continued his work delivering babies and taking care of pregnant African mothers until he contracted the virus.

Sacra is currently under the care of ELWA which stands for Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital being run by a Christian missionary group known as SIM. SIM President Bruce Johnson, in a news conference last Wednesday, said he did not know whether Sacra would be flown home to the United States.

TagsDr. Richard Sacra, Virus, outbreak, Africa