A Nova festival survivor has been found dead on her 22nd birthday after taking her own life.
Shirel Golan had been battling a post-traumatic stress disorder following the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, before she took her own life, her brother Eyal Golan said.
She was found dead in her apartment in Porat, near Netanya in northwestern Israel, on her 22nd birthday on Sunday, October 20.
Her brother has now blamed the state of Israel for her death, saying that she didn’t get any help, despite being hospitalised for her PTSD symptoms twice.
‘If the state had taken care of her, none of this would have happened. The State of Israel killed my sister twice. Once in October, mentally, and a second time today, on her 22nd birthday, physically,’ he told local media.
Shirel was at Nova festival in southern Israel with her partner Adi when Hamas terrorists attacked people at the featival and killed 364 revellers more than a year ago.
The couple hid under a bush for hours and refused to join 11 others in a car who were either killed or taken hostage by Hamas shortly after.
They were rescued by heroic police officer Remo Salman El-Hozayel, who brought them to safety. El-Hozayel had commandeered a car and reportedly saved 200 festivalgoers.
In the weeks following the massacre, Shirel showed symptoms of PTSD like disassociation and withdrawal, her family said.
Her brother Eyal said that when he told Shirel to look for help, she told him that she hadn’t received any help from the state.
The only help she had received was from grassroots association Tribe of Nova Community, which was founded by fellow Nova festival survivors and relatives of the victims.
Eyal said his family tried to take care of Shirel.
‘My mother was forced to take early retirement to be next to her daughter. We didn’t move a millimeter from her, and the only time we left her alone was today, and she decided to take her own life,’ he told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.
