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"Miss Claudette is on the mend. Orange Is the New Black star Michelle Hurst, known to fans of the Netflix series as Piper Chapman&amp;apos;s neatnik roommate, has awoken from a medically induced coma following a serious car accident a few weeks ago.\r\n\r\nAccording to a fundraising page set up to help Hurst with her hospital bills, the actress is currently in the ICU at UNC Chapel Hill Hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C. &amp;quot;Michelle Hurst was in a bad car accident just before the holidays,&amp;quot; the page reads. &amp;quot;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.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\nThe explanation goes on to note that Hurst is now out of the coma -- after 16 days -- and has opened her eyes. &amp;quot;She is progressing slowly, but progressing!&amp;quot; an update notes.\r\nHurst&amp;apos;s OITNB costars Natasha Lyonne (Nicky Nichols) and Matt McGorry (John Bennett) tweeted links to the page and asked their followers to donate to her cause. &amp;quot;Please give what you can to help Michelle Hurst -- the amazing actress who plays Miss Claudette on OINTB,&amp;quot; Lyonne wrote on Jan. 16.\r\n\r\nThe fundraisers&amp;apos; goal was to raise $5,000 to &amp;quot;help pay for her medical expenses and time off of work.&amp;quot; As of Friday, Jan. 17, however, more than double that amount -- a total of $12,256 -- had been donated by 216 supporters.\r\n&amp;quot;People, you are amazing,&amp;quot; tweeted Piper Kerman, the author whose memoir inspired Orange Is the New Black. &amp;quot;In less than 2 days you raised double the goal for Michele Hurst, a.k.a. &amp;apos;Miss Claudette.&amp;apos;&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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