Hundreds offers prayers to survivor Lily Ebert after 'sudden' hospitalisation

Celebrities and fans all over the world have been sending their love and prayers to Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert who was hospitalised last week in a "shock" to her family.

Piers Morgan, Jeremy Vine, Rachel Riley, and Robert Rinder are among the thousands of people who have sent their love to 98-year-old Lily after her great-grandson Dov Forman shared an update on her health on Wednesday.

Forman told the JC that her "really sudden" hospitalisation last week was a "great shock" to the family, but said there have been "positive signs" in the last day as love and prayers have poured in for the Auschwitz survivor.

Thank you all for your kind and thoughtful prayers and messages; they mean so much to us.

Please continue to pray for my great grandmother Lily Ebert, a 98 year old Auschwitz survivor, who is unwell and in hospital.

Her Hebrew name is: Yaffa Shaindel bat Nechama.

❤️💪 pic.twitter.com/VyaMNk4FDh

— Dov Forman (@DovForman) September 14, 2022

Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins wrote, "Praying for Lily, an extraordinary lady. Sending love to you all", and her former colleague Piers Morgan posted a praying hands emoji.

Robbie Rinder posted the Hebrew phrase “רְפוּאָה שְׁלֵמָה”, which means "a complete healing", and Jeremy Vine added, "Please send her my love.”

The official Auschwitz Memorial Museum wrote: "'Good luck and happiness. To a start to a new life.' wrote a US soldier who liberated Lily from a death march in Germany in 1945.

“Dov wishes that “People pray and think of Lily at this difficult time, when she is unwell in hospital. We wish Lily strength & speedy recovery.”

🙏 https://t.co/7UBj0aRpMz

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 14, 2022

Karen Pollock, CEO of the Holocaust Educational Trust, wrote, "Thinking of Lily. Much love", with heart emojis, while anti-poverty campaigner and writer Jack Monroe wrote: "Sending best wishes Dov, I was just talking to someone today about the profound impact meeting your grandmother had on me recently. I hope she makes a full and speedy recovery."

In a post retweeted by Rachel Riley and the Board of Deputies, Joel Rosen, President of the Union of Jewish Students wrote: "Tonight I’m praying for Lily Ebert, a 98-year-old Auschwitz survivor, who is sadly unwell. Together with her great-grandson @DovForman, she has educated millions of people about the Holocaust.

“Lily’s Hebrew name is Yaffa Shaindel bat Nechama. Please keep her in your thoughts.”

https://twitter.com/joelrosen_/status/1569036582665035779

Speaking to the JC from Israel, Dov Forman said that her health suddenly deteriorated at home at the end of last week and she needed hospital care. Forman is the co-author, with his great-grandmother, of 'Lily's Promise', documenting her story of surviving Auschwitz, and made Tik Tok videos to educate the world about what happened, gaining nearly two million followers.

He told the JC: "For a few days, she was at home because that's what was right. And then she had to be taken to hospital. And then thank God, there's been an improvement over the past day, which is actually another miracle.”

“Thank God, she's continuing to improve over the day. And then we'll just see what happens over the coming days and weeks. Positive signs.”

He added that this was completely unexpected by the family: "It was all really sudden because she was ill a few months ago, in July, where she was in hospital for eight weeks after she fell and broke her hip, and then many other complications. At that time, we also thankfully had a lot of outpouring of support and the now-King Charles sent a letter to her.

"He also sent her a plant from Buckingham Palace - we mentioned when we met him in the Palace a few months earlier that Lily loves gardening, so this was a really nice touch.

“The doctors really thought she wouldn't recover from that, and she did, and came out of hospital eight weeks later, and three weeks after that she was walking down the aisle at her eldest great-granddaughter's wedding, which is just unbelievable, a massive miracle. The doctors couldn't believe it.

"Good luck and happiness. To a start to a new life." wrote a US soldier who liberated Lily from a death march in Germany in 1945.

Dov wishes that “People pray and think of Lily at this difficult time, when she is unwell in hospital.” We wish Lily strength & speedy recovery. https://t.co/Ggs4EUShvQ

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) September 14, 2022

“She'd been getting stronger every day, and then this just happened very suddenly. So, it's obviously a great shock to the family, and we’re surrounding her. The whole family is with her. Everyone's just hoping that she’ll, again, make a major recovery and be able to continue sharing story and doing what she does, and has done so long.”

Thanking everyone for the outpouring of love, Forman said: "It's incredible to see; we didn't really expect so many people to do that. We put out the message to try and get as many people as possible to pray and just think of her at this difficult time. So, it's really incredible to see how many people not only care about her but have been infected in a positive way.

"It really touches us as a family that so many people care about her, and want to see her get better.”