Emily Damari's home but 'nightmare' is 'not over' as mum of freed British hostage faces new fight
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Israeli hostage Emily Damari has become the final British national to be freed today - after 471 daysincaptivity. Her ordeal has been one of abject horror as she lost her friends and her dog, was shot in the hand and then kidnapped in her own car. But these past 15 months have also been a different kind of nightmare for someone else - her beloved mum Mandy, who has spent every day campaigning to free her little girl, all with no idea of how she was and no way to speak with her.
Earlier this afternoon Emily was finally freed - the pictures of her being handed into the arms of the Red Cross by masked gun-wielding Hamas members soon spread around the world. Her hair was neatly plaited and she wore the bright pink and white jumper. At first glance she looks like any other fashion-forward 20-something. But the terror etched in her face says it all. It will be some time before we know exactly what she has been through, and even longer for the mental scars to heal.
But today not only also marks the end of Emily's captivity - but also the end of a desperate mother's plight. And finally it's the happy outcome Surrey-born Mandy has always hoped for but never dared imagine. Mandy and Emily have just been pictured together for the first time - beaming in a a screenshot of a video call with Emily's brother. Their smiles - two of the few they've had in 15 months, say it all. In another picture, Emily shows her bandaged hand, and what appears to be some missing digits.
