Girlfriend of slain Bondi victim Dan Elkayam shares love story from Sydney hostel

The heartbroken girlfriend of one of the Bondi victims has shared their love story that started in a Sydney hostel and ended in tragedy.

Dan Elkayam, a young French national who was gunned down in the terror attack that shook the nation, was laid to rest on Monday.

His girlfriend, Brazilian national Krystal Troyano, has revealed how the pair met at a Sydney hostel when they both first touched down in Australia.

Ms Troyano said that she “thought (she) knew what happiness was...until (she) met Dan”.

She opened up about their first date that lasted for eight hours.

“He noticed the Star of David on my wrist and asked if I was Jewish. I said no. He didn’t care, not even for a second,” she shared on social media.

“He took me for a walk around the city. We went from Haymarket all the way to Darling Harbour. We stopped for ice cream, shared pizza, and then went back to the hostel to drink some vodka he had kept.”

The pair instantly clicked, making plans to travel together around Australia and southeast Asia that very day.

“It was our first real conversation entirely in English, maybe in our lives, and yet we understood each other perfectly. Effortlessly,” she said.

“...Then he added, ‘What do you think about going to the Philippines together after Thailand? You’re the kind of person I’d like to travel with.’ He said some word in French that he said means something like ‘you’re easy-going’.

“For the last two hours of our date, we stood talking to each other with barely five centimetres between us. So I kissed him, and later he took a photo of me, a photo I only saw once and that he never sent me.”

The talented football player was farewelled at a service in Sydney on Monday, the latest funeral for the 15 victims of the Bondi shooting.

He had been playing football with friends when shots rang out and was shot in the back while trying to flee the attackers.

Youth Hostels Australia (YHA), who runs the accommodation where the pair met, has shared their own post about the couple after they met in October 2022 in Sydney Central.

“When they first arrived in Australia, they stayed with us for a month in Sydney where they met for the first time, sharing laughter, friendships, and sparking a connection that would shape their journey together,” they wrote

“Over the years, they returned to revisit the place where it all started, reconnecting with our team that welcomed them, and dreaming of one day bringing the next chapter of their story back to where it all began.”

Ms Troyano said that from the day they first met, the pair were “everywhere in that hostel”.

“We knew every corner, every hallway, every hidden spot. We were together at all hours, before and after work, before and after football,” she said.

“We started going to parties together and living the time of our lives.”

Jesse Singer, a close friend of Mr Elkayam sobbed at his funeral as he approached the microphone, needing to take a moment before speaking about the adventurous soul.

“Dan was always joyful and positive and you could feel that energy in any room he entered,” Mr Singer said.

“He cared deeply about his friends and his family and he’d do anything for them.

“He was a proud Jew, and no matter what, he stayed true to his core values.”

Mr Singer described the final hours of Mr Elkayam’s life as something that “perfectly captured everything he loved”.

“We played football on the beach for hours with a group of friends and then went to celebrate Chanuka (at) Bondi, two things Dan truly lived for, his love of football and his love of Judaism,” he said.

As mourners began to gather around the coffin to say goodbye as the service ended, one friend remained at Mr Elkayam’s side until everyone else had left the hall.

He placed a frangipani flower on top of the coffin in a touching tribute, his hands remaining on Mr Elkayam’s remains until long after everyone had filed out of the service.