According to a fundraising page which was set to financially help Hurst, the actress is awake from medically-induced coma after 16 days.
- Jan 17, 2014
AceShowbiz - Actress Michelle Hurst who plays Miss Claudette on "Orange Is the New Black" finally is out of coma after 16 days. The actress was involved in "a bad car accident just before the holidays" and is treated at UNC Chapel Hill Hospital in North California.
According to a fundraising page which is created to help her sister pay the actress' medical bills, the doctors "put her in a medically induced coma to avoid movement while they did multiple surgeries near her spine." Hurst was awake on Thursday morning, January 16.
"[Hurst] has opened her eyes!" the page's administrator wrote. "Michelle is [in the ICU]. We can't send flowers or visit, only family. She is progressing slowly, but progressing!" The administrator also said that Hurst was responsive. The fundraising goal was set at $5,000 but so far it has collected more than $11,000.
Piper Kerman, who wrote a memoir which inspired "Orange Is the New Black" story, tweeted the link to the page and asked for help. The series' cast member Natasha Lyonne additionally wrote, "Please give what you can to help Michelle Hurst - the amazing actress who plays Ms Claudette on 'OITNB'."
