A terrible car crash in 2001 changed everything for Niki. Her boyfriend at the time was driving when he smashed into a utility pole while trying to answer his cell phone. Niki suffered severe internal injuries including a collapsed lung, and a spine that required two rods surgically inserted to hold it back together. In a coma for six weeks after the accident, it looked like that would be the end of her amazing career.
But Niki was made of much tougher stuff than that. In 2006 she married NASCAR driver Burney Lamar (maybe because he could handle cars better) and in recent years she's hit the magazines and catwalks once again, appearing for New York Fashion Week with her supermodel friends. It's good to see her back and more wonderfully luminous than ever.