Courage of an Extraordinary Kind

Cokie van de Velde and team

Much is made of British jihadists going to fight for IS. What is it, 500 from the UK? Maybe more. Yes, and it is shocking. But recently we’ve heard of other volunteer fighters  - not heading for the Middle East - but West Africa - several hundred of them too.

This is no fight for extremism, conquering and slaying the unsuspecting and innocent in a barbaric military assault; no, this is courage of an extraordinary kind: leaving the relative safety of these shores to fight the deadly Ebola virus that is ravaging West Africa.

One such person is sanitation expert, Cokie van der Velde, who has left family and grandchildren behind, stares death in the face daily and yet continues to fight. The risks are huge; for many it’s a bit of a gamble – but courage always comes with risk.

So, there are fighters and fighters but, in their intentions, they could not be further from each other: both risk life and limb but, oh, what a different warfare!

Let’s big up the courageous Britons fighting Ebola  ... I can’t help being proud of them. They’re displaying courage indeed, of an extraordinary kind.