In the quiet shadows of unimaginable loss, we gather our hearts to mourn Roei Shalev—a brave soul whose light was extinguished too soon by the unrelenting grip of trauma. Roei, a survivor of the horrors of October 7, 2023, at the Nova Festival, carried the weight of that day not just in his memory, but in every breath he took afterward. His story is one of defiance against terror, yet it ends in a profound sorrow that pierces the soul of all who knew him, and all who learn of him now. To his family, friends, and the community he touched, we extend our deepest condolences. May the ache of this double tragedy—his mother’s passing and now his own—find some solace in shared remembrance.

Roei was no ordinary young man; he was a guardian in the face of apocalypse. As rockets shattered the dawn at 6:29 a.m., he seized the hands of his beloved Mapal and their friend Hilly, fleeing the festival grounds in a desperate bid for life. Bullets whizzed like vengeful spirits through the trees, a grenade’s blast echoing their terror. Cornered by abandoned cars, they hid beneath the chassis, hearts pounding in the dirt. When Hamas terrorists descended, Roei’s world became a tableau of nightmare: Hilly and Mapal struck down instantly, their lives stolen in a hail of point-blank fire. Covered in their blood and his own, Roei chose stillness—a feigned death that demanded every ounce of his will. A second wave of assailants returned, firing again into the lifeless forms. The shots pierced the fuel tank, drenching him in gasoline that burned into his wounds like liquid fire. For seven agonizing hours, he lay vigil over his fallen companions, whispering prayers amid the silence of slaughter, until rescue came like a distant miracle.

In the weeks that followed, grief compounded grief. Roei’s mother, unable to endure the sight of her son’s shattered body and the void left by so much death, took her own life—a heartbreaking testament to the ripples of that day’s evil. Roei, only in his twenties, fought valiantly for two years. He sought reasons to rebuild from the ashes, to honor Mapal and Hilly by simply enduring. But the trauma was a relentless shadow, devouring his spirit. In his final letter, he apologized to those he loved, confessing that the horrors he witnessed—the loss of the women who were his world—had become an unbearable burden. Yesterday, Roei surrendered, leaving us to grapple with a truth too raw: for survivors like him, every day was October 7th.

Roei Shalev’s life, though tragically brief, illuminates the human cost of hatred. He was a hero who shielded others, a witness whose silence under that car screamed of resilience. His passing urges us to confront the unseen wounds of trauma, to support those haunted by survival’s cruel paradox. In Canada, where he sought perhaps a new beginning, his story bridges continents, reminding us that terror’s scars know no borders. We tribute you, Roei, not with tears alone, but with a vow: your memory will fuel advocacy for peace, mental health, and justice. Rest now, dear one, in the arms of those you lost. For the living, let #EveryDayIsOctober7th be a call to heal together. May his soul find the peace denied him here.