The therapy teaching October 7 survivors to ride the crest of a wave – and find happiness again

For Elizabeth Chimsom Anukwu, there was life before October 7 and life after.

Before October 7, recently out the army, she had been enjoying her new-found freedom by travelling round Europe.

Having just returned to Israel, like thousands of other young people, Elizabeth headed down to the Nova festival, anticipating a weekend of music, dancing and sleeping under the stars.

But at 6.29 on the Saturday morning, this hope was shattered when rockets started being fired from Gaza. “At first, we thought these were fireworks”, she recalls, but on realising it was a terrorist attack, she and her friends tried to escape by car. When they saw that Hamas had blocked the exit, “we got out the car and ran for our lives”.

Speaking at the UJIA Yom Ha’atzmaut business breakfast, the 23-year-old recounted that she then spent hours in the forest “running 81km in circles…being chased by terrorists, attacked from all directions”.

Elizabeth speaking at the UJIA Yom Ha'atzmaut business breakfast (Photo: Blake Ezra Photography) (C) Blake Ezra Photography 2025 Not to be reproduced without written permission.

Her feet were so sore afterwards that she was unable to walk for three days.

Eventually, Elizabeth was rescued and taken to someone’s home in a religious community, before eventually being driven back to Tel Aviv at 1am. “This is Israel. We are there for one another,” she says.

Although she had escaped with her life, her experience at Nova changed her. “It was very difficult for people around me to accept the new me,” she says later, speaking to the JC. “They were used to me being bossy, so it was shocking for them to see me as more insecure and unable to communicate or explain what was going on for me. October 7 changed my whole perspective on life. My belief in protection and security had collapsed.”

At times, Elizabeth would have suicidal thoughts “from loneliness and guilt, asking myself: ‘Why did they die and not me?’ Sometimes, I would even think I was dead and that another soul had returned to my body.”

Aware that she “needed to regain strength and rebuild myself”, but deciding not to seek out conventional therapy, on the recommendation of other survivors, Elizabeth signed up for a programme run by HaGal Sheli, which translates as “my wave”.

Before October 7, the organisation worked primarily with at-risk youth, using surfing as a means of therapy and education. Since the terrorist atrocities, HaGal Sheli has extended its services to Nova survivors, communities in the Gaza envelope and released hostages, and seen its numbers soar by 50 per cent from 10,000 to 15,000. One of a number of UJIA-supported projects for October 7 survivors and part of NATAL, HaGal Sheli is now thought to be the largest PTSD surf therapy organisation in the world, with 11 sites in Israel and one in San Diego.

Elizabeth, who, after October 7, moved from Tel Aviv to Ra’anana for a slower pace of life, says that the benefits of HaGal Sheli have been manifold. “Surfing is about being in the here and now, not about what’s happened or what’s going to happen later. You have to adapt yourself and your emotions according to the waves that day. I joined in July for three months, and by September, the waves were stronger, so I had to adjust myself to being more aggressive.”

And the sense of achievement from riding a wave cannot be underestimated, she says. “Managing a wave really boosts your confidence and your ego.”

Elizabeth Chimsom Anukwu at a HaGal Sheli session (Photo: Natalie Idamti)[Missing Credit]

Yaron Waksman, who founded HaGal Sheli 11 years ago, describes the sea as “the ultimate therapy arena as you can’t control the waves. It makes you understand what you are and aren’t capable of, and you need to learn how to adapt and how to face fear.”

As well as surfing instructors, the organisation brings in clinical psychologists to run group therapy sessions when participants come out of the water. “It’s an open, safe space for victims of terror to open up,” says Rachel Kaplan, HaGal Sheli’s manager of international partnerships. “People we work with form bonds with the instructors and their group. Both the surfing and group therapy sessions teach them that they can trust again.”

For Elizabeth, surfing with around 12 other survivors countered the extreme loneliness she had felt after the attacks. “I met people who could relate to my story, and being in the water with these new friends just made me feel less alone.”

In the lead-up to the first anniversary of October 7, Elizabeth couldn’t face the idea of being in Israel. So instead, she took herself to the Canaries – to surf. “It felt amazing,” she says.

She is now rebuilding her life, studying software engineering and working on a startup that combines fashion and technology. 

Elizabeth, who also works as a model, says: “Today, I am much healthier and at peace with myself. [Surfing] helped save me. I am living again.”

For more information on how you can support HaGal Sheli through UJIA, click here or go to: ujia/org/hagal/

For mental health support in the UK, go to: jamiuk.org; For immediate help, contact Shout via their 24/7 free text service: Text “Shout” to 85258; or call the Samaritans 24/7 for free on 116 123