I Caught COVID-19 & Lost My Limbs | BORN DIFFERENT

Please consider donating to Dani's GoFundMe for ongoing medical expenses: https://gofund.me/43a1e8e7

AS fireworks lit up the Colorado skies for Fourth of July celebrations, Dani was just beginning a fight for her life. On a road trip with her boyfriend Ricky and sister Mariana, Dani had been suffering with chest pain. When she reached hospital, doctors found that pre-existing heart conditions meant that her body was struggling to cope with Covid-19 and she was going into heart failure, respiratory failure, kidney failure and septic shock. As she needed urgent specialist treatment, they immediately airlifted her to the closest major trauma hospital, but during the flight Dani's "heart stopped beating." She remembers paramedics surrounding her just before she went unconscious: "I just remember them talking to me... and then next thing you know I didn't hear them any more." Dani was in a critical condition when she landed and doctors fought to save her life, putting her on life support and preparing her family "to say their goodbyes." Miraculously, after a week in a medically-induced coma, Dani survived - but during the coma, her blood had not been reaching her limbs. Doctors had to make the difficult decision to amputate her legs and her hands and as Dani faced up to her new reality, she knew there were months of gruelling rehabilitation ahead of her. She met the challenge head on: "I couldn't see life like this at first, but I also thought 'I'm a strong person and I feel like I can do this’." Two years on from her traumatic ordeal, Dani is still adjusting to life with prosthetics and continuing to work hard on her mobility and strength. She attends physical therapy weekly and goes to her local gym as often as she can, after owner Mike offered to help her adapt exercises to push her new body to new limits. And Dani is also keen to get back to her successful career as a hair and makeup artist - she has been practising at home on her dad's hair, coming up with techniques that enable her to use clippers and brushes again. The culmination of years of determination to regain her independence is not lost on Dani, as she told Truly: "I feel like I'm me again" - and Ricky and Mariana testify to the courage she has shown to get to this point. Ricky puts her incredible recovery down to the fact that "Dani is an extremely strong person - if anyone could do this, it's definitely Dani" and Mariana's belief in her sister is just as unwavering: "I just knew that this wasn't going to stop her."

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With thanks to Scotts Valley Gym:
https://www.scottsvalleygym.com
https://www.instagram.com/ScottsValleyGym