Brave Emily Damari will take years to recover from hellish ordeal at the hands of Hamas monsters, says dad of hostage
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EMILY Damari will take years to recover from the hell of Gaza after being “mentally, physically and spiritually broken" by Hamas monsters, says the dad of freed youngster Emily Hand. Tom Hand, 64, endured the same agony as Emily’s mum Mandy before his eight-year-old daughter walked free after 50 days.
![[Released Israeli hostages.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/emily-damari-green-onesie-doron-965013591.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The schoolgirl is smiling again and showing signs of healing after intensive therapy and counselling. But Emily Damari is older and has endured an awful 470 days at the mercy of savages in Gaza - and will take longer to get anywhere near back to her old self, Tom fears.
![[Selfie of two women in front of Buckingham Palace gates.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/undated-family-handout-photo-british-964960794.jpg?strip=all&w=705)
Tom told how Emily’s mum Mandy Damarai will have experienced an incredible outpouring of emotion when her daughter runs back into her arms. Tom - who travelled the globe campaigning for his daughter’s release like Mandy - “It’s unbelievable - it’s like your child, your baby has been reborn.
![[Phone screen showing a video call with a released British-Israeli hostage and others.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/first-photo-released-british-israeli-965005759.jpg?strip=all&w=535)
“From that initial greeting, the next step is you get transported to the hospital in Tel Aviv where they check them physically, observe them mentally and from then on it’s a long process of therapies. “They give you a room together, totally dedicated to the family - there’s no way I would let my Emily out of my sight for the first few months and there was no way she would leave me.
![[A man and a young girl sit together. The man is reacting to news that his daughter, who was believed murdered, may be alive and held hostage.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/thomas-hand-spent-weeks-mourning-857885086.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
“You stay glued together for a few months. “The nightmares last for quite a while but the main difference in personality is that their level of maturity goes up because they’ve gone through stuff nobody should ever go through. “Her nightmares were about being separated again from her friends and family and being in the hands of these monsters.”.
![[Released Israeli hostages embracing.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/66201538-ceab-45f2-8967-dae10cd21cb4.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
