Romi Gonen returned home about two and a half weeks ago after 471 days in Hamas captivity following a relentless struggle by her mother, Meirav Leshem-Gonen, who formed a relationship with the families of Gedolei Yisrael during that time and learned about emunah.
On Tuesday, Meirav spoke to Ynet about the terrible suffering Romi endured for over a year in Hamas captivity, the terrorists’ cruel physical and mental abuse, and the complex medical care Romi needs.
On October 7, Romi was at the Nova party at Re’im with her friend Gaya Halifa, H’yd. When the attack began, the girls tried to flee but ended up hiding amid bushes for hours. They later got in the car of Ben Shimoni, H’yd, a hero who earned the nickname the “Angel of Nova” by driving people at the party to a safe spot and then returning three times to save more people until he himself was murdered. Another person fleeing the party, Ofir Tzafarti, H’yd, also jumped into the car and Shimoni began attempting to flee the scene. But like so many others, they encountered terrorists who opened fire at the car, killing Gaya, z’l and Ben, z’l. Ofir and Romi were injured by gunfire and abducted to Gaza, where Ofir, H’yd was later murdered. [His body was recovered by the IDF in November 2023.]
Meirav and her daughter Yarden stayed on the phone with Romi from 6:30 a.m., when the attack began. At 10:15 a.m., Romi told them that everyone in the car had been shot, her friend Gaya was dead, and she herself was shot and needed medical care. She was in the car for another 45 minutes before she was taken hostage after the terrorists first debated whether to execute her or abduct her.
“I know today that during our phone call, she lost consciousness several times,” Meirav said. “I didn’t know that then. Ofir’s injury was very, very severe, and he used his hand to stop the bleeding from the large wound caused by the bullet. These are things we only know today, how Ofir was really a hero in the escape and took care of them, the girls, even though he didn’t know them.”
“For a year and three months, my daughter suffered excruciating pain and didn’t receive treatment there with painkillers or anything, nothing,” Meirav said, explaining that Romi’s injury from the gunfire was a very, very severe injury that really incapacitated her.
Romi’s hand is not functional and she will have to undergo very complex surgery. Meirav said that Romi still faces a very long and complicated rehabilitation and no one can guarantee the results. “She’s still suffering from pain to this day,” she added.
Meirav said that the only medication the terrorists provided Romi was when the wound was still open, when they gave her some type of disinfectant. “She suffered and the terrorists would stand there and laugh at her,” she said.
One of the hostages released in November 2023 told Romi’s family that she was alive but in poor condition. “Her hand doesn’t function,” she said at the time. “Her fingers are barely moving and are changing colors – and that was 10 weeks ago,”
Emily Damari, who was held together with Romi for part of the time, lost two fingers to Hamas gunfire on October 7. After her release, she revealed that she also sustained a leg wound while in captivity. Romi, who is trained as a medic, treated her wounds.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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Anyone who still even has just the minutest support for these filthy savage terrorists, by definition is also an an evil wicked savage, totally devoid of any mercy or compassion whatsoever