DURHAM REGION ADOPTS DANIELLE KANE Durham Region Adopts Danielle Kane September, 7 2019 Annandale Golf and Curling Club 221 Church St S.Ajax, ON L1S 0A1 Join us for this SPECIAL EVENT 50’s and 60’s Dance With a Live Band September, 7 2019 From 8PM to 1AM Food and Beverages Get tickets in advance or on arrival at Annandale Golf and Curling Club Tickets $45.00 Danielle Kane The Event About Danielle July 22, 2018 was like any other night. Danielle Kane and her partner, Jerry Pinksen, were taking their close friend out for a birthday dinner at a local neighbourhood restaurant on the Danforth. They were enjoying the end of their meal on the streetside patio when they heard what sounded like fireworks. The restaurant staff instructed everyone to come inside quickly, saying there was a shooter on the loose. In disbelief, they hurried inside, where staff had closed all the shutters and herded customers toward the back of the building, away from the windows and doors. In a panic, one woman exclaimed she had witnessed someone get shot in front of the restaurant. Jerry, an emergency nurse, and Danielle Kane, a nursing student, decided to go outside to help the wounded party, believing the perpetrator had fled the scene. The moment Danielle stepped outside she was struck by a bullet in the left side of her chest causing her to collapse in the doorway. Unbeknownst to them, that single bullet would permanently paralyze her from the waist down. Danielle Kane, 32, was raised by her Irish father and extended Filipino relatives in Scarborough an unconventional family unit. Given that her father had spent some of his youth living on the streets, he opened her eyes to the suffering of others and taught her to empathize with those who are less fortunate. This led her to seek a career in a helping profession. In her twenties, she attended university at York where she completed an Honours Bachelor’s Degree of Science (in Psychology) while also working part-time as a ward clerk at Toronto East General Hospital (now Michael Garron Hospital). It was there working in the Child Adolescent Mental Health unit that she found her calling, but it would require furthering her education. Danielle decided to complete a counselling diploma at George Brown through a program specializing in counselling women and children who were survivors of assault. With this diploma, Danielle finally felt she could make a difference. Unfortunately, the scarcity of job openings in the field made it difficult to find a position as a counsellor so Danielle decided she should widen her scope of practice by becoming a mental health nurse. Once the scene was secured she was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital where it took four operations to repair the damage. After a six week hospital stay, which included a lengthy period in the ICU, she was transferred to Toronto Rehab to participate in their Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) program at Lyndhurst Centre. Today, Danielle has just completed the Toronto Rehab outpatient program and is awaiting the move to Oshawa to continue the rehabilitation process independently. Unfortunately, she suffers from chronic neuropathic pain which keeps her from being as active as she would like. At 30, Danielle began nursing school at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. She had completed the first year when she was shot by Faisal Hussein, along with 14 others on the Danforth on July 22, 2018. Since then, she has been focused on her health and recovery. The next challenge facing Danielle and her partner, Jerry is converting their new home into a space that is fully accessible.