FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Women's Basketball's Sam Kramer will receive the Hartford HealthCare Courage Award in a special ceremony on the Fairfield University campus on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Kramer will be presented with the award by Rebecca Lobo and other members of the Hartford HealthCare committee. Lobo will present each of the honorees with a plaque and their schools with a $1,250 donation to the general scholarship funds in their names to help future students achieve their dreams.
 
Kramer will receive the award based on her perseverance after the sudden death of her father during the Christmas season of 2018. Kramer lost her father in December 2018—right in the middle of the basketball season—after his very sudden battle with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), an illness rare in adults, in which the body produces too many activated immune cells, which led to non-Hodgkin's T-cell lymphoma. After missing two games, Kramer returned to the starting line-up and from her return through the end of the season she led the MAAC in 3-point percentage. Three months after her father's passing, on the eve of the 2018-19 MAAC Tournament, she shared the experience of coping with her father's death in a touching ESPNW essay.

One of the team's tri-captains, Kramer has been a constant presence in the Stags' lineup as she ranks third in the MAAC with 35.5 minutes played and leads the conference with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. She is also top-five in the MAAC in assists per game and is coming off a career-high tying eight dishes against Canisius. All-time, Kramer ranks ninth in program history with 136 3-pointers made.
 
Each month, two inspiring student-athletes who have demonstrated courage in the face of adversity-such as overcoming injury, illness or other challenges-are recognized as Hartford HealthCare Connecticut Courage Award Winners. A panel of writers, editors and sports information directors from CoSIDA, AP and College Hoops Illustrated, as well as Ms. Lobo, select the honorees. Hartford HealthCare will donate a total of $15,000 to the general scholarship funds for the student-athletes being honored throughout the year. Kramer was selected along with UConn football's Eli Thomas for the award.
 
About Hartford HealthCare: With 30,000 colleagues and total operating revenue of $4.3 billion, Hartford HealthCare has cultivated a strong, unified culture of accountability and innovation. Its care-delivery system, with more than 360 locations serving 185 towns and cities, includes two tertiary-level teaching hospitals, an acute-care community teaching hospital, an acute-care hospital and trauma center, three community hospitals, the state's most extensive behavioral health network, a large multispecialty physician group, a clinical care organization, a regional home care system, an array of senior care services, and a large physical therapy and rehabilitation network. Hartford HealthCare's unique, system-wide Institute Model offers a single, high standard of care in crucial specialties at hospital and ambulatory sites across Connecticut. The institutes include: Cancer, Heart and Vascular, Ayer Neuroscience, Orthopedics and Tallwood Urology. Visit Hartford HealthCare at www.hartfordhealthcare.org.