This woman rushed to the aid of a Danforth shooting victim, and ended up in the line of fire

Danielle Kane has always been one to help.

So it's no surprise to anyone who knows her that when a frantic woman ran up to her at a popular Italian restaurant on Sunday eveningsaying someone had been shot outside on Danforth Avenue, the 31-year-old nursing student and her boyfriend didn't think twice about running to help.

"That's who Dani is," her family said in a statement to CBCNews.

"She always stands up for those who need help."

What the pair didn't know was, at that very moment, the shooter had made his way to the side door of the 7Numbers restaurant, gun in hand,and within secondsKane's life would change forever.

'I can't feel my legs'

A few steps outthe door, Kane's boyfriend, emergency room nurse Jerry Pinksen, found himself facing the shooter, locking eyes for a moment with 29-year-old FaisalHussain.

He heard a clicking soundbefore seeingHussainlift his arms, according to Kane's family.

Pinksen ducked behind a patio tableand thought he'd avoideddisaster. Until he heard a scream.

Kane had followed him outside. Within seconds, she becameone of 15 victimsof themass shooting that claimed the lives of10-year-old JuliannaKozisand 18-year-old ReeceFallon.

The gunman, Hussain, died not long afterward froma self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to a police source.

Of the at least eight bullets fired in their direction, one shattered Kane's T11vertebra, piercing her stomach and diaphragm.

Pinksenand a few otherswho had been in the restaurant rushed to bring her inside and immediately began administering first aid.

"I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my legs," Kane said on the ambulance ride to the hospital, according to her family.

Long road to recovery

Kane's cousin and family spokesperson ByronAbalos says he was "completely devastated, likethe rest of our family," by the shooting.

"Out of our cousins, Danielle is that spark plug. She has a smile and she's bright and colourful and strong," he told CBCNews.

"And to think that she might not be able to do to the things that she loves to do, like dance and be athletic and go on hikes," he said."It's just tragic."

Kane now faces one of the most difficult challenges of her life. Currently under heavy sedation in the intensive care unit at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital,she is expected to survivebut may never walk again.

The #DaniStrong GoFundMe page, launched to help cover the costs of her recovery, outlines her daunting new reality: having to find new housing to accommodate her condition, and months if not years of rehabilitation and specialized care.

"It's still unbelievable," said Abalos, who recently visited Kane in hospital.

"She's hooked up to dozens of machines, her body is a bit pale and it's puffy from all the fluidYou see her there and you're like, 'You were shot.'"

Tragedy and thanks

While what happened that night will take months to process, Abalos saysone thingthat stands out to him is Pinksen.

"Jerry is incredible, the amount of strength he's shown and composure, and talking about the future and how he's in it for the long haul."

"He does not want this to be about him and his actions and there's complicated feelings about this decision to go out and her following him," said Abalos.

"But to me they were both doing something to help someone else."

So far, Kane has undergone three surgeries, with another one to go before the week is over.

It's a traumatic time for her familybut also one of gratitude, knowing that for the families who lost loved ones Sunday night, there is a hole there will never truly be filled.

There's gratitude too forthe first responders, emergency room staff and Dr. Najma Ahmed, the trauma surgeon who saved Kane's life.

"She is a Muslim woman," Abalossaid of Ahmed. "And I know that there is some backlash against the Muslim community because of the shooter and I think it's important personally that we all recognize that one person does not represent the entire community.

"I'm pretty confident Dani would feel the same wayshe fights for people who are marginalized and oppressed."