EYAL Golan’s sister Shirel survived the Hamas massacre on October 7 – only to take her own life a year later on her 22nd birthday.
Shirel hid for three hours at the Nova music festival as terrorists murdered and raped her friends before she was rescued by a heroic police officer who drove her to safety.
Shirel had gone to the festival with 11 friends who fled in a “death car” while she and her boyfriend hid in a dried-out creek.
Their 11 friends were killed or taken hostage by terror group Hamas shortly after fleeing.
At Shirel’s funeral in her home town of Tel Mond last weekend, heartbreaking photographs showed her parents Yafa and Meir sobbing over her grave.
Her brother Eyal told The Sunday Times: “Before October 7, my sister was full of happiness. She had an essence. She had a presence. Everyone who knew her loved her.
“But after, it was like someone played with the dimmer on her soul, slowly turning it down until the light died.”
The Nova music festival was the first site to be hit by Hamas terrorists on October 7 when they stormed the border from Gaza.
They murdered 364 people and kidnapped 40 hostages.
Speaking about what his sister endured, Eyal said: “She heard gunshots, the shouts of people being killed, the shouts of people being raped. She heard every single thing you can imagine.”
Local police officer Remo Salman El-Hozayel bravely transported survivors from the festival site to safety in an abandoned car he found after his own vehicle was attacked.
He made some 30 trips to a nearby farm – one carrying Shirel – risking his life each time as Hamas terrorists shot at police, soldiers, civilians and vehicles.
Shirel was one of over 200 people he rescued that day.
After her death, he said: “A year after I saved her, I buried her.
“I tried to help her as much as I could.”
Eyal said many of those who survived October 7 are now living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma-induced psychosis and depression.
Some have been hospitalised and many have taken their own lives.
Eyal – the first relative to speak publicly about this – slammed the Israeli government for not being more transparent about the mental health crisis.
He said: “They don’t publish the number of the suicide cases because they say we don’t want to encourage other people.
“But I say, no, we need to talk about it.
“I want to break the taboo, or the system will not heal itself. No one wakes up one sunny morning and decides to kill themselves.
“There is a chain of events that leads to that person committing suicide.”
Hamas killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7, and kidnapped over 250 more into Gaza, some of whom are still trapped there.
The massacre sparked a year of war inside the enclave – where 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and some 96,000 injured.
The Israeli health ministry has offered 36 sessions of mental health treatment to survivors of October 7 – with almost 2,000 people taking part and qualifying for 12 more sessions.
Eyal said Shirel was treated in hospital for her mental health in June of this year – and after being discharged went on a trip to India.
You're Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Heads Together,www.headstogether.org.uk
- HUMEN www.wearehumen.org
- Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans,www.samaritans.org, 116 123
While there she called Eyal asking for help as local people were demanding she pay thousands of dollars for a car she had ruined in an accident.
Their dad flew out to Goa, tracked her down and paid the locals.
When she arrived back in Israel her parents took her straight to hospital from the airport.
Eyal alleges that staff at the medical facility were violent towards her, saying: “Instead of taking care of her, they beat her.
“That’s why my sister had a regression.”
Then a few months later she died.
Eyal said: “My parents watched her constantly. They left her for one hour that day and she wandered off into our garden.
“That’s where her boyfriend found her.”
He is pushing for better support in the country following Shirel’s death.
Eyal said: “We failed her. We failed her as a society, we failed her as a family, we failed her as a country.
“If someone spots a red flag and saves a life thanks to our family’s story, I have done my job.
“My sister is not coming back, but no one else needs to be alone.”
Today marks a national day of mourning in Israel for the victims of October 7 following the one-year anniversary tributes a few weeks ago.
It was approved earlier this month – to be held on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei — three days after the Simhat Torah holiday, which is when the Hamas attack took place.
The official mourning period began this morning at 6.29am, which is when the Hamas rampage began.
