Actress Michelle Hurst, known for her role on Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black," recently woke up from a 16-day induced coma following a major car accident right before the holidays.
Hurst's fellow cast members rallied for her with a fundraising website page that has raised more than $12,000 as of Friday morning to cover medical expenses.
Doctors kept the actress sedated due to the extent of her injuries, The New York Daily News reported. The accident occurred during the holidays, but the news broke this week.
According to the YouCaring.com fundraising site, "She had major injuries so the doctors put her in a medically induced coma to avoid movement while they did multiple surgeries near her spine.
"She is out of the coma (after 16 days) and has opened her eyes!" the website said.
Hurst is still in the intensive care unit at UNC Chapel Hill Hospital, according to the YouCaring.com page. All donations will go through Hurst's sister.
"[Hurst] is progressing slowly, but progressing!" said the latest page update. "She is out of the medically induced coma & is responsive."
People close to Hurst used Twitter to connect people to the page; fans tweeted their support as well.
"Michelle Hurst was in a bad car accident & she needs our help," tweeted writer Piper Kerman, who wrote the memoir that inspired "Orange Is the New Black."
Cast member Natasha Lyonne passed on the link, tweeting, "Please give what you can to help Michelle Hurst--the amazing actress who plays Ms. Claudette."
The Daily News attempted to reach Hurst's representative but was unsuccessful.
Playing Miss Claudette, Hurst has portrayed a "standout character" on the show, according to Yahoo! TV.
"She has learned how to survive. She doesn't have 'friends' in this environment, but she just keeps going," Hurst told CableTV.com, describing her tough character. "Once I knew that, I knew it would be interesting for me."
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