Michelle Rukovicin, believed to be the most severely wounded Israeli to have survived the October 7 attacks, married her boyfriend of five years on Tuesday, having woken from a medically-induced coma last year.
Critically injured defending Kissufim base from Hamas, she was shot seven times, hit by grenade fragments, and left bleeding for 14 hours inside a bomb shelter. After the attack, she was placed in a coma for three months by doctors, who told her family that she might never wake up, let alone walk again.
But Rukovicin did wake up and, during a long and gruelling rehabilitation process, promised herself that she would make it down the aisle under her own steam, saying: “I will walk to the chupah on my own two feet.”
And, on Tuesday night, almost two years after the deadly attack, Rukovicin dressed in a brilliant white wedding gown and defied the odds to walk down the aisle to marry her longtime partner, Rinat Kasimov.
Footage of the wedding posted to Instagram showed Rukovicin walking slowly but deliberately to the chupah, supported by her parents, and then, after the ceremony walking back on the arm of her new husband.
She told Israeli media: “My family, my fiancé and my best friends were an essential part of my recovery.
"My fiancé came every day. Because of the people surrounding me, who were so strong, I couldn’t let myself not be strong.
“When you realise you could have died, you gain a different perspective. You want to see more, experience more and appreciate everything more.
"You understand that life can end in an instant. The plans I had before were nice, but now I just want to enjoy life. I deserve it.”
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