Two Israelis killed in a car crash in Ramsgate

Physicist Noga Sella (Hirshfeld), who was living in Cambridge, and her father Yoram, who had been visting from Israel, are named as victims.

Noga Sella, an Israeli lady scientist, and her retired mathematician father Yoram Hirshfeld have received tributes. They were killed last week when a car swerved into a group of people crossing the street at a Ramsgate bus stop.

Omer, Mrs. Sella’s husband, and their eight-year-old son were slightly hurt in the collision, but their six-year-old daughter was more seriously hurt and is currently receiving medical attention in a hospital in London.

According to reports, the family was on vacation in Ramsgate and had brought Mr. Hirshfeld, 78, who was staying with them from Rosh Pina, in northern Israel. The 30-year-old Nitesh Bissandary, who was also hospitalized following the collision, is accused of two charges of driving dangerously and causing death, two counts of driving dangerously and causing injury, and one count of assault and actual bodily harm.

Noga Sella, 40, had been employed at the Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP) as a consulting physicist since June 2021. The family moved to the Cambridgeshire village of Milton in 2018 after traveling from Israel.

Despite having dyslexia, Mrs. Sella earned a high energy astrophysics MSc from the Hebrew University and a physics BSc from Tel Aviv University. Omer, her spouse and a mathematician who went to Hebrew University, is currently doing a PhD in computing at Cambridge University.

Uri Baruch, an Israeli who worked with Mrs. Sella at CDP and actively sought her out to join the company, stated to Jewish News that she was “very creative, highly intelligent.” She may have had a different perspective on things due to her dyslexia. She was always grinning, full of energy, and a pleasure to be around and work with. We tackle difficult challenges, not simple ones, and Noga was there in the heart of things, constantly working with a passion. I had a great time working with her.

As a member of the close-knit Israeli community in Cambridge, Mr. Baruch learned of the tragedy from his wife while on vacation, the same time that Noga and her father were killed. The last time he’d seen Noga before his vacation was about to start, and they were arranging to get together when he got back to arrange a BBQ and dinner for the families of the Baruch and Sella. Her passing, he stated, “left a hole in our lives.” People cannot be replaced, but resources can.

Chief marketing officer Richard Leyland of CDP stated that the company was now thinking on a fitting method to honor Noga Sella’s memory.

Mrs. Sella poured herself into the Cambridgeshire community, leading Girl Guides with enthusiasm and joining a cycling club. “Noga was funny and full of energy, she also always wanted to help, she cycled everywhere in Cambridge, and we had a few conversations about many topics in the short time I knew her,” wrote Gabriel Bienzobas, the leader of the Milton Cycling Campaign and a trustee for Camcycle, in a tweet. In life, there is no fairness.

Her involvement with Guides and Rangers has also garnered her accolades on social media from local Girl Guides leaders.

Since she was a little child, she had volunteered in Israel, hosting weekly gatherings where she assisted students from the Migdal Haemek primary school with their homework and social skills, fostering their abilities both inside and outside of the classroom. She also gave one-on-one tutoring to kids, especially to help them get ready for the matriculation or “bagrut” exams in mathematics.

There was much admiration for both Mrs. Sella and her father. Amnon Eden, a former student of Yoram Hirshfeld at Tel Aviv University, told the Press Association, “His teaching was legendary.” Even I, who is not a mathematician and am dyslexic, could understand his explanations of difficult math at the highest order.

About 25 years ago, Mr. Eden, who is currently the chief scientist at the think tank sapience.org, first encountered Mr. Hirshfeld. Dr. Hirshfeld joined Mr. Eden as a co-supervisor for his master’s and doctoral work.

“We were very sad to hear about the tragic death of former Tel Aviv University mathematics professor Yoram Hirshfeld,” stated Cara Case, chief executive of Tel Aviv University Trust. He has been a highly esteemed faculty member at TAU. We offer the family our deepest sympathies.