One of the saddest and weirdest things to come out of the Aurora Shooting so far is that one young woman who lost her life had recently narrowly avoided being killed in a mall shooting in Toronto while she was on vacation. She wrote about it pseudonymously on her blog on June 5th. She had gone to a mall in Toronto to satisfy a craving for sushi but she changed her mind once there and got a hamburger. It was a decision that might have saved her life.
Knowing that she died in a mall shooting six weeks later is haunting considering the conclusion to her piece:
I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening.
I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.
I feel like I am overreacting about what I experienced. But I can’t help but be thankful for whatever caused me to make the choices that I made that day. My mind keeps replaying what I saw over in my head. I hope the victims make a full recovery. I wish I could shake this odd feeling from my chest. The feeling that’s reminding me how blessed I am. The same feeling that made me leave the Eaton Center. The feeling that may have potentially saved my life.
Her name was Jessica Ghawi, and she was only 24 years-old. She aspired to be a sportscaster. She’s only one of dozens of victims of last night’s shooting spree, but her story is eerie and compelling. Read her account of the Toronto shooting.
I rushed through my dinner. I found out after seeing a map of the scene, that minutes later a man was standing in the same spot I just ate at and opened fire in the food court full of people. Had I had sushi, I would’ve been in the same place where one of the victims was found.
My receipt shows my purchase was made at 6:20 pm. After that purchase I said I felt funny. It wasn’t the kind of funny you feel after spending money you know you shouldn’t have spent. It was almost a panicky feeling that left my chest feeling like something was missing. A feeling that was overwhelming enough to lead me to head outside in the rain to get fresh air instead of continuing back into the food court to go shopping at SportChek. The gunshots rung out at 6:23. Had I not gone outside, I would’ve been in the midst of gunfire.
What can you say about such a twist of fate?
