“We have got her home but she is left bearing not only scars of abuse but also the heavy burden of credit card and car loan debt.”
The travel ban against Tori Towey, a 28-year-old flight attendant from Co Roscommon, was lifted and the charges dropped on Wednesday.
Her cousin, Nicole McElroy, set up a GoFundMe to help Tori cope with the trauma she endured in Dubai by clearing the “heavy burden” of her credit card and car loan debt.
The post reads: “We are the family of Tori Towey.
“What started out as a hopeful journey for Tori has turned out to be a living nightmare. She fell victim to physical and psychological abuse and financial control.
“We have got her home but she is left bearing not only scars of abuse, but also the heavy burden of credit card and car loan debt. She lost her car along with many other possessions.
“We will help Tori through the trauma. We are asking for help in clearing the debt Tori unjustly finds herself in.
“Any remaining funds will go to DIVAS and Radha Stirling from Detained in Dubai.”
To date, the fundraiser has raised almost €5,000 from 95 donors.
Ms Towey arrived home on Thursday and said she was relieved and delighted to be back home in Ireland.
Speaking on a live discussion on the social media site X, she said she attended a dinner at her cousin’s house after arriving back home.
“There was a time where I didn’t think it was even possible that I was going to be able to come back at all,” she said.
“So I’m just relieved and I suppose over the next few weeks, I’m just going to rest and spend time with family and friends and then just go from there.”
Ms Towey thanked Detained in Dubai founder Radha Stirling for her help with her case, as well as Sinn Féin TD for Roscommon-Galway Claire Kerrane, who raised the case with her party leader, Mary Lou McDonald.
“Mary Lou, within minutes, was on the phone to me and so I told her my story. She said ‘Look, I’m going to take it to the Dáil, I think, in one hour’,” Ms Towey said.
“So then we were watching the Oireachtas live and she brought it to the Dáil and then Simon Harris called me after they had a private meeting and they were straight on it.
“They kept in touch with us. Any time there was an update, they were phoning us, I know Micheál Martin was doing a lot behind the scenes as well.
“They all just worked as a team and they were amazing. I’m so grateful to all of them.”
She said once the Irish Government got involved, embassy officials worked “day and night” on the case and were updating her constantly, sometimes at night.
