Ebola nurse Kaci Hickox and her nursing student boyfriend Ted Wilbur are planning to leave the state of Maine this upcoming week after Hickox’s 21-day restriction for Ebola monitoring expires.
Wilbur told the Portland Press Herald in an interview published Friday night that the couple is leaving because the nursing school he was attending would not meet his demands for his return to campus after he was barred from attending classes when he joined Hickox in isolation over concerns he might contract and spread the virus.
Proving himself to be just as arrogant and self-centered as his girlfriend who alienated their hometown of Fort Kent, Maine by refusing to abide by a 21-day quarantine, Wilbur went public with his dispute with officials of the University of Maine at Fort Kent in the Press Herald interview.
”Wilbur said he withdrew from the nursing program because university officials – who told him there had been threats against him – refused to communicate to students that any harassment, threats or demonstrations against Wilbur would not be tolerated.
“Wilbur said school officials pointed out that those acts were prohibited, and said they wouldn’t act ahead of Wilbur’s return to school to reinforce the prohibitions.
“Wilbur was concerned about the threats and also about potential silent protests, such as students getting up and leaving a room when he entered.
“He said he initially agreed to stay off campus at school officials’ request “under duress,” when he was driving to meet Hickox in southern Maine after she left New Jersey.
““I agreed to whatever,” he said. “They didn’t show any leadership or support to me and they had an opportunity, as a nursing school, to act like a medical community, and they didn’t.”
“Wilbur was able to call in to listen to lectures while staying away from the campus, but they were hard to follow over the phone. The final straw came Friday when he met with school officials to discuss his return and they refused to agree to talk to students ahead of time about his return and warn about acts that would not be tolerated.
““They instead decided to pander to fear and hysteria,” Wilbur said.
Hickox sowed fear and panic in Fort Kent when she arrived in town in late October vowing to break quarantine after having fought an effort by the state of New Jersey to quarantine her upon her arrival from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.
Fear of Hickox potentially spreading Ebola caused Fort Kent residents and visitors to boycott businesses and cancel medical treatment lest they come in contact with Hickox.
The Ebola fear spread by Hickox crossed the Canadian border to Fort Kent’s neighbor Clair, New Brunswick. Residents there said they were staying out of Fort Kent for the time being.
The restrictions on Hickox will reportedly expire at 11:59 p.m. EST Monday.
Wilbur said the couple doesn’t know where they are going when they leave Maine after Monday.
