Mystery Sign Language Interpreter Gains a Lot of Attention on Twitter

There has been too much attention on Twitter to the mystery sign language interpreter who signed during the conference in New York City discussing the Ebola case of the city’s first victim.

Here is the video on YouTube: [youtube width=”500″ height=”344″]http://youtu.be/bcANTgd3KQs[/youtube]

Unnamed signer

During the press conference last Friday that discussed the condition of Dr. Craig Spencer, the first Ebola victim from New York City, a mystery sign language interpreter appeared alongside Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, who was conducting the press conference together with the city’s health officials. The still unnamed signer wore an all-black outfit and glasses and dramatically signed during the conference. He not only had a variety of animated facial expressions, his hands were also expressing the seriousness of an Ebola epidemic.

His actions were so arresting that within minutes of the telecast, those who have seen him started posting comments on Twitter. “Dramatic,” “captivating,” “mesmerizing,” and “priceless” were just some of the words that Twitter posters used in their comments. Others say that he was distracting while some question his legitimacy as a signer. Still others think that he was interpreting or communicating with another signer who was seated in the audience.

The question stemmed from last year’s issue on the fake signer that was used during Mandela’s wake.

Dr. Craig Spencer

The doctor is a Columbia University assistant professor of medicine. He is also a New York-Presbyterian Hospital associate in international emergency medicine. Aside from his medical training, Dr. Spencer is fluent in French, which helped him greatly in understanding and giving aid to the patients they treated in Guinea, where French is the official language. He had just returned to the city on October 17 from his volunteer work in West Africa with the Médecins Sans Frontières where they cared for several Ebola-stricken patients. He has not gone back to his work at the hospital since his return.

According to Médecins Sans Frontières, Dr. Spencer followed all the protocols recommended for any aid group staff that comes from countries affected by Ebola.

He developed fever Thursday and decided to stay in his apartment until the paramedics came to bring him to Bellevue Hospital Center. When he was admitted his fever was 100.3 degrees Farenheit. Many are questioning the actions of Dr. Spencer, who went jogging and bowling, rode the subway, walked the High Line and even took an Uber taxi ride back home after his return, when he was supposed to stay quarantined for 21 days.

The mayor and health officials want to assure the public that there is no cause for alarm. Ebola is not an airborne disease and exposure to the body fluids of an infected person is the way to get the disease.

Meanwhile his fiancée has been taken for the required 21-day quarantine, the incubation period of the disease. Dr. Spencer on the other hand continues to receive treatment and is reported to be in stable condition.

Video and Image credit: Fox News