When her daughter Alyssa was born undiagnosed with a diaphragmatic hernia in May 1992, Danielle Kessner didn’t know what CDH was nor know anyone who had been affected by it. When her precious daughter died the day after she was born Danielle found herself in a very lonely place.
It took seven years, and the advent of the Internet, for her to discover other families, at which time she was determined to make sure other families in Australia were not alone in their CDH journey.
As well as personally supporting and connecting families, Danielle began facilitating annual forums in 2001 bringing families and medical professionals together to provide peer support and share knowledge.
To honour Danielle’s compassion and relentless hard work over 13 years of being President of CDHA, Danielle was awarded with CDHA’s first Honorary Life Membership in 2013.
Today, CDHA continues to strive for Danielle’s vision for no family to face CDH alone.