Crowd-sourcing site shuts down B.C. writer's fundraiser for Syrian relatives trapped in war-torn Aleppo

Julie Angus is used to a challenge. The 38-year-old writer and Comox, B.C., resident was the first woman to paddle across the entire Atlantic Ocean, a journey she detailed in her book Rowboat in a Hurricane.

So when she decided to raise funds for her uncle “Ahmed,” a former Canadian resident whose name cannot be revealed for security reasons, and his family trapped in war-torn Aleppo, the Syrian-German-Canadian succeeded in raising $2,500 overnight via an online crowd-sourcing campaign.