Kendall Daniel Survives Nearly-Fatal Car Accident to Return to the Field
Top StoriesOn the day her life nearly ended last year, everything had been going perfectly for Kendall Daniel.
The two-way standout had posted about her commitment to Tarleton State in the morning and then helped her Liberty High (Texas) team win a big game in the afternoon.
Daniel celebrated the victory with her parents and grandparents in the parking lot before hugging them all goodbye. She was staying behind with some friends to support the baseball team.
At 10:30 that night, Tracy Daniel’s cell phone rang. As parents of four children, it wasn’t a complete surprise to get calls that late. But something seemed different.
“I immediately sat up and the first thing I said was, ‘which kid?’” Kendall’s father, Craig, said. “It was almost one of those things where God was telling you something bad was going on.”
One of Kendall’s friends was on the other end of the line. The panic in his voice gave credence to Craig’s intuition.
He told them he had received a call from Kendall that didn’t connect, so he called back via FaceTime. When she answered, he saw her body contorted in her car and blood everywhere.
After dropping off a teammate once the baseball game ended, Kendall was driving home on a farm-to-market road. A pickup truck with no headlights and towing a van had crossed into Kendall’s lane and hit her head-on, totaling her Kia Soul and causing it to flip.
The driver and passenger of the truck fled the scene, leaving Kendall on the dark road amid the wreckage with potentially fatal injuries. Witnesses nearby quickly called for help.
“I was pinned in the car for about an hour or so. They were trying to figure out how to get me out without having to amputate my leg or arm or having me bleed out,” Kendall said. “My right leg was actually over my left shoulder and completely shattered.”
That’s what makes her return to the field this summer even more poignant for Kendall and her family. Kendall is playing for the Nashville Fame in the Music City Collegiate League. It’s the first time she’s seen live action in games since that infamous day of April 11, 2022.
“Once softball was taken away from me, all I could think about was going back to it,” Kendall said. “I told my parents, ‘I don’t care how much extra work this takes, we are going to figure it out and get back on the field where I want to be and need to be.’”
Praying for survival
As soon as her parents received the call about Kendall’s accident, the family tried to use social media to figure out her exact location. They got in the car and started driving to the scene. They were able to make contact with the first responders, who put Kendall near the phone.
“Momma, I am hurting,” is all they remember her saying over and over.
Once they arrived, Craig jumped from the vehicle and raced to Kendall’s car.
“It looked like somebody had stepped on a tin can and crushed it,” he said, fighting back tears. “I looked in the window and she was balled up and her leg was behind her and there was literally blood all over.”
Kendall’s parents felt helpless as they watched the first responders try to rescue their daughter. The flashing emergency lights against the dark night sky made it seem even more disorienting and surreal.
“We found out later after the accident that when the first responders got to the scene they fully expected it to be DOA (dead on arrival),” Craig said. “They didn’t think there was any way someone could survive the accident. But they were able to cut her car apart enough to get her out.”
Kendall was transported by air ambulance to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston. The X-rays of her leg looked like “cracked eggshells” with pieces of bone all over the place. She suffered compound fractures in her right femur and left wrist and broke her right ankle. She endured an eight-hour surgery after all the damage was assessed.
Doctors told the family she could have bled out if the artery in her wrist had been nicked by the bones she shattered.
“It was a very scary time. They were preparing my parents for the worst,” Kendall said. “Once I realized what was going on, I didn’t think I would survive either. I was making my last phone calls to people I needed to talk to.”
The long road to recovery
Kendall made it through the surgery and her mind immediately returned to softball. Her high school team was trying to win a state title and she didn’t want to miss any of their games. She insisted on attending a game only a few days after her accident.
“Kendall is very strong-willed, almost to the point of insanity sometimes,” her dad said. “We warned the nurses that they better get her out of here or she would leave on her own.”
Kendall got in a wheelchair and made her way to the field to support the team. Once she was able to move more freely in a boot, she began doing pitching drills in the bullpen.
“Being away from the game was very hard. I was still around it, but not being able to practice and not being able to play almost made me kind of rethink my life,” Kendall said. “I didn’t realize how big a part softball had in me and how much this game truly meant to me until I didn’t have a choice to play or not to play.”
After six months of physical therapy, the doctors realized Kendall’s leg wasn’t healing properly and she would need a second reconstructive surgery. They had to insert a bigger rod in her femur, transplant some bone from her hip and use a cadaver bone to help stimulate growth.
“I had many times where I questioned if I would ever play again, but I think I had the most doubt closer to the second surgery,” Kendall said. “I thought surely it would feel a lot better, but it was actually getting worse.”
Her mood brightened considerably once she began to see positive progress following the second surgery. She would still have to redshirt her freshman season at Tarleton State, but she could see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Softball’s Music City miracle
As soon as doctors cleared her to play again a week before the one-year anniversary of her accident, Kendall began searching for opportunities. She saw the MCCL was making its debut this summer and started making plans.
Kendall had originally committed to the University of Houston before switching to Tarleton State late in her senior year, partly to study animal science. Because of her accident, the Tarleton State coaches have still never seen her play a game in person.
“They told me they think I can be a pretty high-impact player. They are just waiting to see what I can do,” Kendall said. “I am hoping with this summer league, I can get some extra collegiate innings under my belt and get more confidence.”
Kendall’s family made the trip to Nashville to witness her first games back. Her parents drove from Texas and her grandmother flew in. They didn’t care if she struck out every at-bat, gave up five home runs in the circle or made a dozen errors in the field.
“Somebody asked me whether I would be nervous and I wasn’t. I was just more happy to see her out there doing what she has been trying to do for so long,” her mother said. “It was very emotional because we were not sure if we were ever going to see that again.”
Kendall is batting .464 (13 of 28) with three doubles, 14 runs scored and four RBI in the MCCL. In the circle, she is 2-1 with a 5.25 ERA, 25 strikeouts and 20 walks in 25.1 innings. She was selected to represent the league in games against the Florida Vibe and Team Canada this week at Austin Peay University.
Although she’s still trying to get up to speed physically, Kendall believes she’s a mentally stronger player than before with a perspective that she hopes can help others.
“I think I am changed. I feel like I truly have a real purpose now,” she said. “I have something to share with somebody else. I am working to have an impact on other people’s lives other than my own.”
Kendall has four years of collegiate eligibility still ahead of her, yet she’s already thinking about playing professionally and possibly even coaching.
After all she’s endured to get back on the field, she wants to stay there as long as possible.
“At the end of the day, I absolutely love the game,” she said. “I want to play it until the game doesn’t let me play it anymore. That is the mindset I have now.”