Nova festival survivor Shirel Golan takes own life on 22nd birthday, family blames state for ignoring PTSD
By Isabel Keane
Published Oct. 21, 2024, 9:05 a.m. ET
A young woman who survived Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel died by suicide on her 22nd birthday after a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, her family said.
Shirel Golan’s heartbroken family said she had been hospitalized twice since the massacre, which killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and saw another 250 taken hostage. She was found dead in her apartment in Porat, central Israel, on Sunday.
“I saw that she had symptoms of post-traumatic stress, such as withdrawing and distancing herself from her friends. I asked her to take care of herself,” her brother Eyal told Hebrew media, according to the Times of Israel.
Golan, the youngest of five siblings, was supposed to visit the Western Wall and the Cave of the Patriarchs to celebrate her 22nd birthday, her family told Ynet.
Eyal told the outlet he spent time with his sister during the Sukkot holiday and she seemed to be doing okay.
“I asked how she was, and she said she was fine. I gave her a hug and a kiss, not realizing it would be the last,” he said.
Golan’s family blames the Israeli government for turning a blind eye on survivors.
“If the state had taken care of her, none of this would have happened,” Eyal said.