Christian Doctor Kent Brantly Gives Blood To Dallas Nurse With Ebola

A Dallas nurse currently fighting Ebola after treating an infected patient has received a blood transfusion from a doctor who survived the virus.

Nina Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, was one of 70 hospital workers who had close contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national who returned to Dallas from the West African country with Ebola. Duncan died of the disease last week.

Pham was one of the nurses working the closest with Duncan, and although she reportedly wore all of the necessary gear to prevent the virus, she somehow contracted Ebola while in close contact with the patient.

This week, Pham reportedly received a blood fusion from Dr. Kent Brantly, a Samaritan's Purse aid worker who was infected with the virus in July. Brantly survived the disease after he was given experimental drugs, and he has now donated his plasma to Pham to help her immune system fight off the infection.

Pham's family pastor, the Rev. Jim Khoi, of the Our Lady of Fatima Church in Fort Worth, says Pham's mother told him of the blood transfusion. Pham is reportedly still conscious and able to talk to her mother via Skype.

"Her mom says that she got the blood from the gentleman, a very good guy. I don't know his name but he's very devoted and a very good guy from somewhere," Khoi said.

Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference Sunday that Pham breached protocol when treating Duncan, and that's how she was infected with the virus.

"The (Ebola treatment) protocols work. […] But we know that even a single lapse or breach can result in infection."