'He was such a compassionate, respectful young man who would have helped anyone': Family and friends overcome with grief at the funeral of first US Ebola victim, Thomas Eric Duncan

About 40 people gathered for the funeral of Thomas Eric Duncan, 43, in Salisbury, North Carolina, on Saturday Duncan is suspected of contracting Ebola while helping a pregnant woman during a recent trip to Liberia 'Eric would have been out there and helped that woman,' a friend said Duncan died in Dallas on October 8 His mother Garteh Korkoryah was overcome during the ceremony Thomas Eric Duncan was remembered Saturday as a big-hearted and compassionate man whose virtues may have led to his infection with Ebola in his native Liberia and subsequent death as the first victim of the disease in the United States. Family and friends gathered at a small Southern Baptist church with a primarily Liberian flock near where Duncan's mother and other family members live. Duncan's neighbors in Liberia believe he was infected by helping a pregnant woman who later died from Ebola. It was unclear if he knew about her diagnosis before traveling to the United States. Duncan denied helping his Ebola-sickened neighbor, but it would be consistent with the caring nature he always showed, said his nephew Josephus Weeks of nearby Kannapolis.