Home Scandal and Gossip Nova festival survivor, 22, struggling with trauma kills self on birthday

Nova festival survivor, 22, struggling with trauma kills self on birthday

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Shirel Golan Nova festival survivor kills self on 22nd birthday after suffering PTSD after attack.
Shirel Golan Nova festival survivor kills self on 22nd birthday after suffering PTSD after attack
Nova festival survivor Shirel Golan takes own life on 22nd birthday as her family now blame Israel state for ignoring PTSD and mental health woes.

Family of Shirel Golan Nova festival survivor blame Israel for her suicide death, claiming the state failed to provide any mental health services before she took her own life on her 22nd birthday. Israeli ministry denies claims. 

A survivor of the massacre at the Nova Music Festival, was found dead in her apartment on her 22nd birthday. 

Shirel Golan, according to her family, suffered from post-trauma due to the horrific events she experienced at the festival on October 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel, killing some 1,200, including in the Nova Music Festival area, and kidnapping another 251.

Shirel who was supposed to be celebrating her birthday with family on Sunday was instead found dead in her apartment in Porat, near Netanya in northwestern Israel, on her 22nd birthday on October 20.

Shirel Golan Nova festival survivor kills self on 22nd birthday after suffering PTSD after attack
Shirel Golan Nova festival survivor kills self on 22nd birthday after suffering PTSD after attack.

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.

Golan’s brother, Eyal, said that Shirel did not receive adequate assistance from Israeli state authorities to get her the necessary treatment to deal with her experiences, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The relative recounted how, on October 7, he and his siblings set up a family operations center to help Golan escape the area. Fortunately, she was rescued by a police officer who drove her to Kfar Maimon after the first vehicle she was on became a ‘death car,’ in which 11 people were murdered.

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 alleged sexual assault and mutilation of victims. Dozens of others at the festival were abducted and dragged into Gaza.

According to Eyal, Golan exhibited symptoms of post-trauma, including avoidance and social withdrawal. Despite the family’s efforts to encourage her to seek treatment, Golan reported that she did not receive adequate assistance from state authorities.

She was hospitalized twice at Lev Hasharon Hospital in Pardesiya, but the family stressed she was never officially recognized as a post-trauma victim of the Nova Music Festival incident.

‘The state killed Golan,’ Eyal claimed, adding, ‘If the state doesn’t wake up, there will be more cases like this.’ The sibling called on the authorities to increase awareness and improve treatment for trauma survivors to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

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.

Nova festival survivor kills self on 22nd birthday after suffering PTSD after attack
Shirel Golan Nova festival survivor kills self on 22nd birthday.

Israel’s Welfare and Social Services Ministry has reportedly denied the claims that Shirel wasn’t taken care of by the state.

It said in a statement that she was ‘recognized and treated in the welfare system even before October 7 and especially after’.

The ministry also called on survivors to contact their 24-hour hotline if they needed emotional support.

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 Times of Israel reported.

‘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.

Golan was the youngest of five siblings and is survived by her parents and four brothers.

Participants learned of Golan’s death through the news while attending a large Zumba dance event held on Sunday evening simultaneously in Tel Aviv and London. The event was held to raise funds for psychological support for survivors of the festivals.

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