The Spanish nurse who became the first person known to have contracted Ebola outside West Africa in the latest outbreak has given an emotional account of her ordeal as she left hospital.
Teresa Romero said she had clung to memories of family when she thought she was dying and still does not know how she caught the disease.
She had treated two returning Spanish missionaries who later died.
She vowed to donate blood to other Ebola victims until she "ran dry".
But in her first press conference after being discharged from the Carlos III hospital, she also condemned Spanish officials for putting down her dog.
She said they had unnecessarily "executed" the mixed breed Excalibur.
'Big hug'
On her release from hospital, an emotional Ms Romero, 44, read a statement, saying: "When I felt I was dying I would cling to my memories, to my family and my husband, I was isolated and I did not have any contact with the exterior except with (husband) Javier by telephone."
She said she felt the disease "did not matter to the Western world until there was an infection here".Ms Romero no longer posed a risk and could lead a normal life, said Jose Ramon Arribas, the head of the Carlos III hospital's infectious diseases unit.
Although she would be able to return to home, she would need "time for a full recovery from a very dramatic event," his colleague Mr Arribas added.
"The main joy is that finally it's been possible to save someone with Ebola and more importantly a colleague," fellow nurse Esther Bellon said.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed some 5,000 people. The vast majority of the deaths have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Source: BBCNews
Photo sources: Thecommonsensehow, Independent
