Exclusive | How some Oct. 7 hostages found their voice and new strength after being freed: Post-traumatic growth

They survived hell — and are determined to make something good come from it.Former Oct.7 hostage Keith Siegel is among those who have turned unimaginable trauma into a new sense of purpose — experiencing what psychologists call “post-traumatic growth” after 484 days in captivity.After his February 2025 release, the American-Israeli threw himself into the campaign to free the hostages still in Gaza — meeting repeatedly with President Trump and other senior administration officials and speaking to audiences around the world.“I did something I had never done before, and I never thought I would ever do, and I never believed I could do it,” Siegel, 66, told The Post.“Something horrible happened to me, and because of that, people will listen to me,” he said.

“So I have a voice.”Three years after Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and dragging 251 others into Gaza, many of the hostages who made it home have transformed the darkest chapter of their lives into a mission to bring light to others.They have become artists and authors, advocates and humanitarians.Some have taken their unexpected platforms into business and technology, determined not simply to heal, but to use their trauma for good. Former hostage Eli Sharabi turned his 491 days in captivity — and the devastating loss of his wife and two daughters — into “Hostage,” which became the fastest-selling book in Israeli history and later a New York Times bestseller.And Noa Argamani, whose terrified face became one of the defining images of Oct.

7 as she was hauled into Gaza on the back of a motorcycle, has embarked on a new career in venture capital.Argamani, 28, who was rescued after 246 days in captivity, recently joined Vine Ventures, where the former artificial-intelligence student hopes to use the extraordinary international network she built while advocating for the hostages to help Israeli startups break into the US market.“I lost a lot of people.I ...