Nursing student shot in Danforth attack ‘still finds the city as beautiful as ever,’ family says

August 10, 2018

A nursing student shot in the spine while rushing to help victims of the mass shooting in Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood last month is off life support and “can now eat and drink what she likes,” according to her family.

Danielle Kane, 31, was shot as she and her partner, nurse Jerry Pinksen, rushed out of a Danforth Avenue restaurant on the night of July 22 as the sound of gunshots rang in the air. Thirteen people, including Kane, were injured that evening, while two young women — 10-year-old Julianna Kozis and 18-year-old Reese Fallon — were killed.

Of the at least eight bullets fired in the couple’s direction, one shattered Kane’s T11 vertebra, piercing her stomach and diaphragm.

According to an update posted Thursday on a GoFundMe page dedicated to raising money for Kane’s treatment, she is “off medical support devices, she’s on less and less pain medication and can now eat and drink what she likes (she snuck in some A&W yesterday).”

The fundraising campaign was started by Kane’s cousin, Byron Abalos.

The post includes a photo of Kane in St. James Park, outside St. Michael’s Hospital, where she is being treated.

“She’s getting back to [her] regular self and wants to keep moving. She continues to be stunned by all the support she’s received and is eager to get back into the world and active again,” the post reads.

“She is not afraid. She still finds the city as beautiful as ever.”

Kane still does not have feeling below her navel, but could be discharged in a week or two, the post says.

She has a long road of recovery and rehabilitation ahead of her, and fundraising events have been organized across the country to help with her care.

The latest event is a golf tournament in Burlington scheduled for August 20, organized by one of Kane’s cousins.

Pinksen, 35, has previously said that doctors believe Kane will either remain in a wheelchair with the use of her arms and torso, or may walk with an aid of some sort.

“I’ve been through some emotional distress but Danielle right now is suffering from potentially a lifelong deficit, so I want to make sure that people recognize how selfless she was, trying to race out there and help someone, not knowing what we were going to meet outside the door,” Pinksen told The Canadian Press late last month.