Which sentence is correct with the use of "hand" versus "hands"?:
I had been devoted, a leader, a hard worker, and even more importantly I had been there to hold their hand when all they could do was breathe.
or
I had been devoted, a leader, a hard worker, and even more importantly I had been there to hold their hands when all they could do was breathe.

Question

Which sentence is correct with the use of "hand" versus "hands"?:
I had been devoted, a leader, a hard worker, and even more importantly I had been there to hold their hand when all they could do was breathe.
or
I had been devoted, a leader, a hard worker, and even more importantly I had been there to hold their hands when all they could do was breathe.

anonymous · Answer

And I'm only talking about holding one hand of multiple people.

aripotta · Answer

it would be the second one. their hands.

my old english teacher used this example:
"the girl's heads" that implies that the girl had more than one head.
the correct way for that example would be "the girls' heads" using the plural of both girl and head or "the girl's head" which uses only singular girl and head.

and since you are only holding one hand, but with multiple people, it would be "their hands" 
plural person and hand.