Survivor of Oct. 7 attack at Nova Music Festival shares her story of survival one year later
NORTHFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Monday marked one year since the Hamas attack at the Nova Music Festival in Israel, which was part of a larger attack that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
Hundreds were killed in that attack. Dozens more were kidnapped and taken hostage.
A 24-year-old woman who survived the horror was in the Chicago area recently to share her story.
"I feel like we are still living the same day," said Amit Ganish.
She was just about to go to sleep after a night of music and dancing when she heard and saw rockets, then gunfire.
The law school student and her best friend crammed into a stranger's car with eight other people. As terrorists fired in their direction, they made it to a nearby forest where they hid.
"I heard a lot of things and I saw a lot of terrorists in my eyes," Ganish said. "I hid under a bush for nine hours because I was surrounded by terrorists."
They were eventually found by an Israeli news team. One year later, Ganish still struggles to accept her new norm, but said she's stronger because of it.
"When I see the girl that was there on October 7 and I see me today, it's not, it's not the same person at all," Ganish said. "I think all the people in Israel, we are not the same. We are not happy like we used to be happy. We are still, I am still going to parties and going to festivals, but it's not the same. You don't feel free."
Ganish now travels the world to share her story.
"At some point, I promised to myself that I would stay alive and I would do what I need to do," she said she told one audience.
When CBS News Chicago met Ganish last month, she was speaking at Temple Jeremiah in Northfield.
"I want people to know what really happened there. That's why I am here," Ganish said.
She added, "I feel that I'm the voice of a lot of people. I am the voice because they can't speak so I will speak for them, because I survived this. I don't know how, but God saved me."
Ganish's best friend's boyfriend died on Oct. 7. She said she had little hope on that day, but now, she found that hope and wants to give it to others.