A person’s life is an entire world, and it is difficult to sum it up in a few paragraphs. Nevertheless, we shall try here to offer a “taste” of what Talia meant to those around her.
Talia was born on 31 July 1983, 21 Av 5743, the youngest child of Marilyn and Maurice Hyman, after three sons. She spent her childhood in the Ahuza neighbourhood of Haifa. Even as a child, Talia was full of life, mischievous and cheerful, spreading love to everyone around her and forming countless friendships.
Talia began first grade at the “Nativ Eliezer Carmel” primary school in the Ahuza neighbourhood of Haifa. In fifth grade, together with her classmates, she joined the “Carmel” branch of Bnei Akiva as a member. Talia attended the “Ironi Vav” state religious school for girls for her secondary education.
During her childhood, Talia was diagnosed as having “learning difficulties”. When she came to understand that “Ironi Vav”, as an educational setting, was not giving her the tools she needed to realise her academic abilities, she decided not to give up. She moved to the “Beit Shel Tamar” secondary school at Kibbutz Shefayim — a change that entailed a total of three hours’ travel every day — so that she could study successfully towards her matriculation examinations. Thanks to this move, Talia fulfilled all the requirements for her matriculation certificate except for two examinations, which she was preparing to complete at Ariel College when her life was cut short.
After completing her service in the Israel Defence Forces, Talia studied for a year at Midreshet Nov in the Golan Heights. There she stood out particularly in the social sphere and gained a great deal of strength for the rest of her life.
While she was at secondary school, Talia developed psoriasis, which later also developed into psoriatic arthritis — a condition found in about a quarter of those with psoriasis. The onset of this illness did not cause Talia to give up. She continued to struggle with the difficulties it brought so that she could carry on living as normal a life as other people her age. In her determined aspiration to create sympathetic public opinion and improve access to medication for those living with the illness, Talia represented the young members of the Israeli Psoriasis Association at a discussion held on the subject by the Knesset Labour and Welfare Committee at the beginning of 2005. In a letter she submitted to the committee following the discussion, she described the illness’s effect on the self-confidence of the boys and girls who live with it — an illness that affects young people as well as adults and deprives them of a normal quality of life.
After completing her year of study at Midreshet Nov, Talia began studying at Ariel College with the aim of completing her matriculation and psychometric examinations and being accepted to study social work at the college.
Talia was a warm and loving young woman, full of life and joy, cheerful, beautiful and self-confident. At the same time, she recognised and valued the things that matter in life, and she had strong opinions. Talia had a clear outlook on every subject she encountered. This outlook ignited an inner drive whose enthusiasm swept others along with her. Her fighting spirit and determination often enabled her to overcome the physical and bureaucratic difficulties that stood in the way of her own success and that of her friends and acquaintances.
Talia had a special gift for forming a connection with every person, whoever they were, and for “touching” each person’s soul in the most personal way. For example, many soldiers and young people she met over the years who, like her, lived with psoriatic arthritis drew strength from her. At the same time, they gave her further motivation to become more active in this field and to help such people, both in her daily life and through her choice of a future career.
Talia was always surrounded by friends and acquaintances whom she gathered wherever she went — at school, in the youth movement, or while travelling by train or bus. She would always telephone to wish people a happy birthday and encourage everyone to meet and stay in touch. Her many friends say that she was always ready to help her friends and acquaintances in any way she could, even going many kilometres out of her way to take someone home safely, visit an elderly relative of a friend, or help a friend’s mother with a large amount of shopping.
Her family, and especially Talia’s nephews, will always remember her as the loving and indulgent aunt who constantly showered them with gifts, warmth and love, and who attended every one of their birthdays — even the parties at nursery.
On 9 March 2005, 28 Adar I 5765, Talia was travelling from a visit to the family of her boyfriend, Moti, in Jerusalem to her studies at Ariel College. Before leaving for Ariel, she still found time to return the glasses that Moti had left in her car and to give a lift to Tal, her fellow student.
On that rainy morning, another accident occurred north of Jerusalem, and a military Abir ambulance was called to the scene. The driver of the Abir ambulance reached a queue of vehicles moving slowly because of the accident and overtook it at high speed while crossing a solid white line. When he saw Talia’s car, which was travelling in the farther of the two lanes facing him, he braked hard. As a result, he skidded, lost control and moved towards the lane in which she was travelling. Talia tried to escape to the right and drew close to the safety barrier, but this was not enough. The heavy Abir ambulance collided with her head-on and caused her death.