My cousin Danielle lives about, oh, 24 hours away from me. (Why yes, I know that most people measure distance in miles, but I prefer to measure by number of hours it takes me to get there. Deal with it.) The last time I saw her I was a few months pregnant with Cindy-Lu. And before that it had been around 10 years since I’d seen her.

Needless to say, I don’t know her very well, but I do know that she is a good person, caring and kind. She is in her early 20s and going to nursing school and also working as an EMT.

Last night Danielle got a call in to work and as she was on her way she went around a turn came upon a tree fallen in the road. She swerved into a field and was thrown from the car.

She broke her back and neck, has minimal bleeding on the brain, a collapsed lung, and a bruised kidney.

She is in the ICU now and stable, but will probably be there for quite awhile. Last night her back was really hurting, which sucks, but everyone is happy that she can at least feel.

She is a good person with so much ahead of her and she just doesn’t deserve this. Please, whatever you do, if its pray or think good thoughts, or hell if you wanna do some sort of Indian tribal healing dance, please do. (And if you choose the tribal dance route, I’d appreciate a video. I’m sure it would help to cheer Danielle up.)