Pennsylvania family relieved as Hamas releases 84-year-old grandmother
Groups like the American Jewish Committee are still concerned about the dozens of hostages still being held by Hamas.
ARDMORE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The freeing of hostages held by Hamas on Tuesday night had extra significance for one Pennsylvania family.
Their 84-year-old matriarch was among the freed hostages.
Action News Reporter TaRhonda Thomas spoke with one of the family members on Monday, before the release. Hours after our story aired, the family found out that their loved one was on the list of hostages to be freed.
Ditza Heiman, 84, was held captive by Hamas for more than seven weeks. When her daughter-in-law, Corey Shdaimah from Ardmore, spoke to Action News, the family was anxious but hopeful after officials announced a two-day extension of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire that led to the freeing of hostages.
READ | 16 hostages released from Gaza Wednesday including American-Israeli woman
"It's really hard for us to see other people coming home," Shdaimah said on Monday.
Her husband, Amichai Shdaimah, is Heiman's stepson.
The family's feeling of helplessness is now replaced by happiness as the grandmother of 20 was released Tuesday night.
"I still can't stop smiling because I'm so relieved and happy. And we're feeling grateful," said Shdaimah on Wednesday afternoon.
She and her family watched on an Israeli streaming broadcast as Heiman and other hostages were brought back to Israel. Heiman was easily recognizable by her snow-white hair, wearing a pink cardigan and she was pushed in a wheelchair.
"When we saw her, that was the real relief," said Shdaimah.
For more than seven weeks, family members in Ardmore, Israel, and the UK had no idea how their matriarch was doing.
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"There was absolutely no word," said Shdaimah.
The last anyone saw of Heiman was on October 7, when Hamas militants took her from the safe room of her house near the Gaza border. Once she was returned to Israel, she underwent a medical examination like all of the hostages.
"She was brought to the hospital via helicopter and her family members, her children, were waiting for her there," said Shdaimah.
Heiman did a video call with her family in Ardmore. She was seemingly in good spirits
"She wanted to know how we were doing," said Shdaimah, who is known to take care of others having worked as a social worker in Israel.
As of Wednesday night, Heiman was still in the hospital. Doctors want to make sure she's okay after nearly two months in captivity.
"She has health conditions and we know she didn't receive medication while she was there," said Shdaimah.
Groups like the American Jewish Committee are still concerned about the dozens of hostages still being held by Hamas.
"We want to get the word out and we want people to know that we will not stop until all of the hostages are home," said Marcia Bronstein, regional director of the American Jewish Committee Philadelphia Southern New Jersey.
The AJC has gotten digital and print billboards displaying messages to bring the hostages home.
They've also started a new campaign that makes yard signs available to people who wish to share the message of bringing all of the hostages home.
To order a sign, visit the AJC's submission form.
Heiman's family is also committed to keeping the focus on the remaining hostages, hoping they too will be reunited with their families.
"Our heart goes out to everyone who is still in the dark about their loved ones," she said.
Heiman's family says she hasn't spoken of how she was treated while she was being held captive. Both hospital staff and loved ones are being very sensitive about that.
As far as whether she'll return to her home in Israel, which is a mile-and-a-half from the Gaza border, her family doesn't yet know if she'll want to or if she can. A quarter of her village was destroyed.
