I spent 4 hours running for my life at the Nova festival. A man in a white pickup truck rescued me, but I never learned what happened to him after he returned for more people.

• Natalie Sanandaji is an American who attended the Tribe of Nova music festival on October 7.
• She and her friends spent four hours running through the desert before they were rescued. 
• The 28-year-old said she learned later that she nearly missed being shot at.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Natalie Sanandaji, a 28-year-old New York resident and "American Jew born to Israeli and Iranian parents." It has been edited for length and clarity.