LI 'Hell's Kitchen' contender gets support from the other chefs after spinal surgery 

They may compete on “Hell’s Kitchen,” Thursdays at 8 p.m. on Fox, but when one of their own gets hurt, the chefs rally ’round.

Uniondale’s Donya Taylor, a concert-tour catering chef who has helped feed the crews for Billy Joel and Taylor Swift, was badly hurt on Sept. 23 during a Brazil getaway when a truck so severely rear-ended the Uber minivan in which she was riding that her vehicle flipped over. Taylor spent three days in a hospital before enduring “a 17-hour ride from Brazil with just Tylenol and ice packs just to get home,” she told Newsday. She learned her spine’s C6 and C7 vertebrae, the primary weight-bearing bones for the head, were broken.

Taylor, 30, underwent a successful five-hour surgery. Even so, “That first week, I couldn't walk. Now I can walk pretty well. Got my mobility a little bit back. I still need a neck brace” for a few more weeks. While she does “have some insurance and I also had travel insurance,” the extensive injuries required acute physical therapy, the type done in an inpatient hospital setting to rehab essential skills and motor functions. “But my insurance didn't cover it or other certain things that I actually need,” Taylor says. 

And so on Oct. 7, fellow “Hell’s Kitchen” competitor Leigh Orleans (aka Leigh Fairbrass) initiated a GoFundMe campaign that so far has raised about $2,000 of its $15,000 goal.

“Leigh actually took her time and asked me if she could do it, and I was reluctant to because I didn't expect anybody would want to help me with any of the expenses,” says the Bronx-born Taylor, who moved to Uniondale at age 10 and still lives there. “And everyone from ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ just got together and were, like, yeah, we're going to do this for you. And it was just super sweet to see people out there that really care about you, especially when you're competing against them.”

Even before this, another chef on the show had helped her land a gig. “One chef I got really cool with was Sandra [Gajovsky]. That's how I got the job with Dega Catering,” a Knoxville, Tennessee-based company that specializes in tours. “She was, like, ‘Hey, I think this would be a great spot for you,’ so I talked to her manager” and got a job as one of head chef Gajovsky’s crew.

Taylor has since gone on the road, helping feed the production crews of bands including The Lumineers; Joel for his ATL Live concert with Lionel Richie, Sheryl Crow and others in Atlanta last Nov. 22; and Swift for her “Eras” tour.

Such experiences, Taylor says, have made her take to heart the subtitle of this 22nd season of “Hell’s Kitchen: The American Dream.” Her stepfather, a now-retired correction officer who with her aunt raised Taylor and five other children, “is an immigrant from Barbados who became an American citizen a long time ago.” 

In that "Brady Bunch"-like household, Taylor began cooking at age 14, found she loved it, and learned more under a BOCES program. After a brief stint at SUNY Morrisville, she left to begin apprenticing at various restaurants. Now, in addition to touring work, she owns the catering company East Side Eats.

“I owe Uniondale for where I am today,” she says of her upbringing. “Uniondale High School pushed everybody to get to the next level. I definitely want to say you can literally make it from anything. Don't stop believing in what you believe in. Then once you have a path, just stick to it.”