Late on the evening of Friday, Oct. 6, before turning in for the night, Jacqui Rivers Vital checked her phone, more out of habit than anything else, and saw that there were rocket alerts in areas along Israel’s tense border with the Gaza Strip.
Born and raised in Ottawa, Vital has lived in Israel for decades and happened to be in Canada visiting her sister and other family members when the carnage erupted. She was planning to fly back on Oct. 8. Instead, from the moment she checked her phone, her life became a surreal hell.
