An uncommon, but heartwarming day for the Fresno State softball team: their newest teammate is a nine-year-old girl.
Fresno State will signed Kailee Sidamrong-Phan of Fresno as the newest member of its softball team during a Team IMPACT Draft Day celebration Sunday.
Kailee is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), which makes participating in sports challenging for a variety of reasons, given the impact to her lungs and breathing.
Team IMPACT is a national nonprofit that connects kids facing serious and chronic illnesses to college athletic teams across the country — On Sunday, it connected Kailee to the Bulldog softball team to fufill her wish.
Kailee is one of 30,000 patients in the United States living with CF, a disease predominantly diagnosed in children by age two.
As a member of the team, Kailee may be present at practices, games, team dinners and more — serving not only as their teammate, but also as inspiration.
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