The border was still open for Syrians to cross into Turkey, and some foreign journalists were still arriving to the Bab Al Salam border crossing headed in the other direction, with the aim of reaching Aleppo. It was February, the winter of 2013. We met Nour for the first time at Bab Al Salam, sitting in the front seat of a minivan headed to Aleppo, waiting to cross. Kind, smiling and speaking perfect English, she gave us her take on the situation in Syria.

At the time, her father was a doctor at the hospital in Azaz, northwest of Aleppo. Nour’s passion was journalism. She had worked as a local contact and fixer for foreign journalists before beginning to work as a photographer for Reuters — until a tank shell almost killed her.

Taking pictures and getting the truth out about the situation in her country was what drove her, but despite recovering from her injuries, she found she couldn’t cover the conflict anymore – the situation was deteriorating and radical Islamist groups were more present every day, making it difficult for women to even move around the frontlines. When she couldn’t work any longer, she felt she’d lost everything, and decided to follow the stream of refugees into Europe.