Ashoka Mukpo, the son of the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s widow, Diana Mukpo, and her second husband, Mitchell Levy (Trungpa Rinpoche’s personal physician), has contracted Ebola. Mukpo has spent years volunteering in West Africa, and returned to Liberia when the outbreak began. He was working as a cameraman for NBC News, covering the epidemic, when he contracted the disease. Mukpo’s parents spoke on Today this morning (see video below). “I think, obviously, he seems scared and worried,” said Levy. “He’s been filming what’s been happening in Liberia for two weeks, and seeing the death and tragedy, and it’s really hit home for him. But his spirits seem better today.”
In a Facebook post two weeks ago, Mukpo described what he was experiencing in Liberia:
“man oh man i have seen some bad things in the last two weeks of my life. how unpredictable and fraught with danger life can be… i hope that humanity can figure out how we can take care of each other and our world. simple, soft aspiration for all my brothers and sisters on this earth who suffer the elements and the cold. may we all be free, loved, and tended to…”
You can read an article Mukpo wrote for VICE detailing the devastation, here, and a plea for help from the US government, on Al Jazeera, here. Also, you can see the Washington Post’s coverage here.
[October 6 update: Ashoka Mukpo has arrived back in the United States and is being treated at a Nebraska hospital. According to NBC News Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Mukpo is in “great” spirits and is eating and drinking on his own. More at NBC News, and via this Washington Post story.]
