For the average teen, ringing a bell may seem unimportant. But for 15-year old Danielle Bennett, a Baldwin High School sophomore, it changed her view on the world.

“End of sophomore year, in like April, I was on the tennis courts and felt this odd lump,” Bennett explained.

What was the odd lump? The doctor stated it was a swollen lymph node that showed a possibility of thyroid cancer. Upon later observation, it turned out that it was Stage 3 Hodgkins Lymphoma, a form of cancer.

“There was a tumor in my neck that was crushing my Trachea and Lymphora, which is a part of the heart that I kinda need to live,” Dani said.

This was kind of scary for her and her family, however the family grew closer from this experience.

“Dani’s diagnosis did not negatively impact my family. It was extremely stressful and hard for all of us, but I truly believe that it brought us much closer together as a family,” said Emily Bennett, Dani’s older sister. “We are all stronger, more aware, and much closer because of this journey.” Dani agreed

“It brought my family closer together then we were before,” she said.

Being scared during this experience was unavoidable, but for Dani and her family, they grew from it.

Dani said that she made jokes and tried to keep a positive outlook throughout chemo.

“Jokes are how I cope with everything,” Dani said.

Though Dani joked, her sister Emily had a different reaction. “We were all very heartbroken when we first got the news, needless to say, it was a very emotional day…” Emily said. “She and my family had enough going through their heads, I felt it was my job to keep her (Dani) sane with everything going on. It is very easy to get overwhelmed with the doctor throwing all of these scary things at you. It was really difficult to keep how I was feeling hidden, but I knew I had to. I needed to be her rock. Each and every day tell her it is going to be okay. She had enough people worried about her and the whole process, it was my job to not doubt her so that she would not doubt herself.”

Dani had a lot of support from many of her peers, teammates, teachers, family and her favorite music therapist Liz. Dani stated that Liz would come in during chemotherapy and help her cope, and crack jokes with her.

Though there is a possibility of it coming back in five years Dani took this opportunity to grow as a person.

“It just happens and I just wanted to stay positive,” she said.

Though she wanted to stay positive cancer is a scary thing, and the possibilities of it being fatal are high. Even though this was a possibility Dani said she was not scared of death.

She went through this tough patch, and through all the chemo, and the needles and appointments this summer she finally was able to ring the bell and won the fight against cancer.