Nova festival survivor takes own life; family blames state for ignoring PTSD
Shirel Golan found dead in her home on her 22nd birthday, after developing symptoms of disorder in aftermath of attack; brother accuses authorities of failing to provide treatment
A 22-year-old woman who survived the Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, 2023, died by suicide after a year-long struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, her family said Sunday.
Shirel Golan, who turned 22 on Sunday, was supposed to spend the day celebrating her birthday with her family. Instead, she was found lifeless at her home in the community of Porat, near Netanya, her phone filled with unanswered well-wishes from friends wishing her a happy 22nd birthday.
Her death sparked angry denunciations from Golan’s brother Eyal, who accused the state of failing to offer her needed help for emotional and mental issues in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre.
“If the state had taken care of her, none of this would have happened,” he was quoted in Hebrew media as saying. “The State of Israel killed my sister twice. Once in October, mentally, and a second time today, on her 22nd birthday, physically.”
Golan and her partner Adi were among the thousands of partygoers who managed to flee the Nova outdoor rave as Hamas-led terrorists began massacring attendees on October 7, 2023.
They initially made it to a vehicle and tried to drive out of the area, but abandoned the car once it became clear they could not escape. The pair hid under a bush for hours until they were eventually found by police officer Remo Salman El-Hozayel, who had commandeered a vehicle to rescue partygoers under fire, eventually saving some 200 people according to media reports.
לפי משפחתה של שיראל גולן, שניצלה מהנובה, היא שמה קץ לחייה ביום הולדתה ה-22, בגלל מצוקה נפשית ופוסט טראומה שלא טופלה.
לא עסוקים בכלל במה הולך להיות כאן שנים קדימה, דור שלם של פצועים בנפש. לא רק קו ראשון של שורדי הזוועות, גם הלוחמים, גם המשפחות, המטפלים, וגם אזרחים ״פשוטים״ ש״רק״… pic.twitter.com/eRvZBmW0hQ
— Michal Peylan • מיכל פעילן (@michalpeylan) October 20, 2024
While hiding, the pair narrowly avoided getting in another car whose occupants were all killed or kidnapped by Hamas terrorists while trying to reach safety, Golan told the Kan public broadcaster in November.
According to authorities, 364 people at the open-air music and dance festival near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel were slaughtered, and many of them were subjected to other atrocities, including gang rape and mutilation of victims. Dozens of others at the festival were abducted and dragged into Gaza.
In the weeks and months following the assault, Golan began developing symptoms of PTSD, including disassociation and withdrawal, and was hospitalized twice, but was never recognized as a PTSD sufferer, her family said.
Eyal said that when he noticed her withdrawing from people and asked her to seek help, she replied that she had not received any help from the state, and that any assistance she had received had come from the grassroots Tribe of Nova Community association, founded by fellow survivors and relatives of victims following the attack.
He said the family had tried to take care of her themselves as best they could.
“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,” Eyal told Channel 12 news.
He charged that the state needed to “wake up,” or there could be more suicide attempts.
“I lost my sister, but I want to raise a hue and cry so others won’t lose their loved ones,” he said, according to Ynet.
The Welfare and Social Services Ministry responded that it “provides an assistance package and support to party survivors in a wide variety of forms,” together with National Insurance agencies and other partners, including the Nova association.
It called on any survivors needing emotional or mental support to contact the ministry via a 24-hour hotline (reached by dialing 118) or online.
PTSD is a difficult-to-treat mental health condition that is triggered by either experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Symptoms of the disorder may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about what happened.
In February, Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, head of the National Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience at Tel Aviv University, estimated that as many as 30,000 Israelis could develop PTSD as a result of the October 7 attack and resulting wars, burdening Israel’s already stretched mental health system.
“The system was already clogged before October 7. People had to wait nine months for an appointment with a psychologist in their health maintenance organization. The situation wasn’t much better if a person opted to go the private route, which has waiting lists and is expensive,” Bar-Haim said at the time.
Renee Ghert-Zand contributed to this report.
