Wednesday, May 1, 2024
After Vicki Kieltyka’s best friend successfully underwent an operation to receive a pacemaker, Kieltyka promised that she would help her cross an item off her bucket list: A trip to Israel.
“She said, ‘Vick, if I make it through this surgery, will you go with me to Israel? That’s a bucket list thing for me,’” Kieltyka said. “And I said, ‘sure, I’ll go with you.’”
Kieltyka and her friend arrived in Israel on Oct. 3 with a group from her friend’s North Dakota-based church. The tour was supposed to take them to various historical and cultural sites in and around Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem.
A few days later, on Saturday, Oct. 7, war broke out in the region after Palestinian militant group, Hamas, launched a surprise attack in Gaza, killing thousands of innocent people.
On the day of the raid, Kieltyka’s group had plans to visit the Dead Sea, Jericho, and the Jordan River.
“When we got to each of those places the roads were already blocked off by military personnel,” she said. “So, we knew something was going on, but we had no idea what.”
The group changed courses and traveled to Bethlehem that Saturday, which is less than 50 miles northeast of Gaza City. Kieltyka said her group lodged for three nights in Bethlehem, and that she mostly received news about the conflict from family members back home.
“The tour leader said there was just a small conflict,” she said.
However, during the group’s final night in Bethlehem on Monday, Kieltyka said she heard planes and helicopters flying over the city. The next morning, the tour leaders told the group that they needed to evacuate.
“They said that it was getting worse, and they wanted to get us to safety,” she said.
Due to flights being canceled out of the Tel Aviv airport, Kieltyka said they had to make a three-hour journey across the border to Amman, Jordan.
“Our bus driver was with us, and he said, ‘I will get you out safely,’ and he did,” she said.
Kieltyka said they went through five military checkpoints before reaching Jordan.
“They closed the border right after our bus went across, and the buses behind us could not come on, so we know that there were more Americans waiting to cross,” she said.
After they reached the border, she said there were several people waiting to go through immigration, so they had to wait five hours in the heat with their luggage before they could officially cross into Jordan.
After catching four different flights, Kieltyka and her friend finally arrived home on Saturday, Oct. 14.
“I’m relieved we made it home safely, but I’m also praying for all those who were left over there, because there are still a lot there and some are held hostage now,” Kieltyka said.
Amid the Israel-Hamas war, NBC News reports that more than 5,700 people have been killed in Gaza, and more than 1,400 have been killed in Israel, including 33 Americans.
Kieltyka’s family is relieved that she returned home safely and are grateful to the tour guides who helped safely evacuate the group.
“It is great having Mom back. It was very stressful while she was gone. But everyone is grateful she got home,” said Kieltyka’s son, Shane Kieltyka. “I’m not sure who her tour guide was, but he was definitely a blessing (getting) my mom, and all those other women to safety.”
Kieltyka’s daughter, Heather Kieltyka, agrees. “We are very thankful that she was able to get home and thankful to her tour group,” she said. “She might still be there if it wasn’t for those people.”
