DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. -- On the long road to recovery Katy Daniel hitches a ride every chance she gets.
"When I'm with the horses, it's like everything just disappears," Daniel said. "Everything, like, I go back to being my old self," she said, sitting near her beloved horses.
Katy and her twin sister Taylor ride just about every single day, finding solace in their time in the saddle.
Katy knows all too well how precious time can be. "Life is too short and it can change in the blink of an eye," she says.
Katy and her sister
Katy was helping put up fence post at her house on Mother's Day, May 8 when her life would change forever.
Katy's ponytail got caught in the piece of farm machinery as an auger drilled a hole into the ground for the fence post.
In an instant, her hair, scalp and ears were ripped off.
"As crazy as it sounds, there is good in such a horrible accident," Katy says matter of factly.
The community reached out to support Katy, using the hashtag #Katystrong during her two months in the hospital.
Katy and family, early in recovery
"It's overwhelming," she said. "I didn't know that many people cared, you know. It shows me how many good people there are in the world. So many people have come into my life since this."
The freak farming accident inspired generosity from all over the community.
Volunteers from across Dinwiddie County showed up at her house after the accident and not only completed the fence but built a horse barn as well.
Katy faces the road ahead
Central Virginia Horse Rescue donated a horse to Katy's twin sister Taylor, so the pair can ride together as part of her therapy.
She still watches the music video and listens to the song written just for her by Artist Brittany Marie.
Katy's recovery will be long, and the support of family and friends remains important. Once she is completely healed, she will undergo surgery to attach her ears, sometime next year.
"I think, let her get good and healed up, she can pick up where she left off, to be honest," says her brother Kyle.
Because she is, after all, #KatyStrong.
