Danielle Kemp, a former CT Charmer, is a 19 year old Milford CT native, a Foran HS alum, and currently a Division 1 student-athlete at Stony Brook in Long Island. As an avid softball player since childhood, Danni was spending this summer the same way she has been for the past 10 years, playing summer softball; only this year, she was in a Brakettes uniform the whole summer.

​In early July, Danni got hit by a pitch in the helmet during an at-bat. As a few weeks passed Danni began experiencing balance problems, trouble focusing, and dizziness. Doctors had initially thought it was a concussion, but after an MRI was ordered, they realized it was not a concussion.

After being sent to Yale-New Haven Hospital, Danni and her family were informed that she has an inoperable brain tumor in the Pons region of her brain. Due to the location, surgery is not an option, Danni will begin radiation therapy on August 29th, and will receive treatment Monday through Friday, for a total of 6 weeks. The team of doctors at Yale is still working to come up with the best plan of care to continue with after the 6 weeks of radiation. The family is very hopeful for new clinical trials that should be available in the near future. Danni is the toughest young woman we have all ever met, and is more than ready to fight this.

Her strong and indomitable will has already proven to be more than enough to battle and beat a rare kidney disease while she was in high school. This will be a battle but with so many people who know and love Danni and her Family, they’ve got an army behind them.