Foran High School Graduate Danni Kemp Named Courage Award Winner

MILFORD, CT — Fairfield Warde High School senior Giacomo Brancato and Foran High School graduate Danni Kemp have been selected as the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance Bob Casey Courage Award winners.

They will be honored at the 76th Gold Key Dinner on April 30 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.

Brancato was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma in 2014, but returned to the Fairfield Warde baseball team last spring to help lead his team to the Class LL championship game. A year after he was in a hospital bed receiving treatment, Brancato hit a three-run home run in a loss to Amity.

Kemp, a 2015 graduate of Foran in Milford, was diagnosed with a rare, inoperable brain tumor this past summer while playing softball with the Stratford Brakettes. In high school, she was diagnosed with kidney cancer, which is now in remission. Kemp was a three-sport athlete at Foran and an All-State softball player in 2015. She played softball her freshman year at Stony Brook in 2016.

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The award is given in the memory of Bob Casey the late sportswriter of the New Haven Register and honors those who have overcome adversity.

Defensive end Dwight Freeney of the Atlanta Falcons, five-time Olympic archer Butch Johnson, Farmington boys soccer coach Steve Waters and former Cheshire swim coach Ed Aston will receive Gold Keys at the dinner.

Tickets to the Gold Key Dinner, which begins at 4 p.m., are $75 and can be purchased by contacting dinner chairman Tim Jensen of Patch Media Corp. at tim.jensen@patch.com or 860-394-5091; or CSWA President Matthew Conyers of The Hartford Courant at 860-874-4166, ormconyers@courant.com. Tickets can also be obtained by mailing a check to the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance, P.O. Box 70, Unionville, CT, 06085. Proceeds benefit the Alliance's Bohdan Kolinsky Memorial Sports Journalism Scholarship.

Danni Kemp

Last July, Danni Kemp, who graduated from Foran High School in Milford in 2015, was hit in the head with a pitch while playing softball for the Stratford Brakettes.

After testing for a concussion, doctors discovered Kemp had an inoperable brain tumor.

The rare tumor, which is called a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, can’t be removed because of its location in the pons region of her brain.

Kemp missed the fall semester at Stony Brook, where she played softball her freshman year, to undergo radiation treatment.

She started treatments for the tumor in August at Yale-New Haven Hospital. In December, Kemp traveled to Germany for a series of treatments.

Her teammates at Stony Brook have dedicated the Spring season to Kemp.

Kemp’s fight has caught the attention of the softball community. Two-time Olympic pitcher Jennie Finch tweeted about Kemp last year and other athletes and schools have held fundraisers to help Kemp in her battle. On twitter, the hashtags #DanniStrong and #DK23 have been used by teammates at Stony Brook and other America East Conference softball programs.

The local community has also reached out, raising considerable funds for the Kemp family.

In high school, Kemp was diagnosed with kidney cancer, which is now in remission.

At Foran from 2011-2015, Kemp was a standout for the girls softball team, playing catcher and then shortstop. She was selected to the All-State team in 2015.

Kemp played volleyball and basketball for two years, but stopped playing her junior year to focus on softball.

Last spring, she played second base for Stony Brook.

Kemp was a recipient of the Fairfield County Sports Commissions Chelsea Cohen Award for her inspirational battle and strength in overcoming life-altering obstacle.