President Barack Obama gave the nurse recently declared Ebola-free a big ol' presidential hug on Friday, hours after she was released from isolation at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.
Nina Pham, 26, thanked God, her family and friends on Friday as she was discharged form the hospital. Pham was the first person to contract Ebola within the United States; she and a second nurse were infected with the virus while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, who later died from Ebola. She was flown to the NIH Clinical Center from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.
Obama was "was not at all concerned" about his health and simply wanted to give Pham a hug of gratitude, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
Pham also got a hug from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH, who said it was a great pleasure and privilege to treat and care for "such an extraordinarily courageous and lovely person."
Pham asked for privacy so she could could get back to her normal life and reunite with her dog, a one-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Bentley.
Pham's dog Bentley has been under the care of Dallas Animal Services, which has kept the dog in isolation since his owner's diagnosis. On Thursday, they were happy to let Bentley know that he and Pham would be reunited. Bentley was also declared Ebola-free earlier in the week, but is still being kept in isolation.