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Kyle Bursaw

Visual Storyteller

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Story: Young Champion

Rena Thibault pins her daughter Danika Thibault's dress in their DeKalb living room while getting ready for an end of the year dance for eighth-graders at Clinton Rosette Middle School on Thursday, May 31, 2012.
Fourteen-year-old DeKalb resident Danika Thibault trains to compete in international fighting competitions including kickboxing and grappling with support from her family, friends and sponsors while balancing her training with trying to be an averag
Danika's mother Rena helps fasten her championship belt from her victory in the IKF tournament in Orlando. Danika decided she wanted to wear it and her silver medal from a grappling competition in San Diego to show off to her sister's friends while
Danika Thibault works on her moves at United Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness on Monday, June 4, 2012. Thibault normally spars with others in class there, but worked solo because she had some minor injuries including a brace on her wrist and a sprai
Danika Thibault, 14, trains with a class at United Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness on Thursday, June 7, 2012. After winning the regional in Beloit, Wis. in May, Danika got the opportunity to compete in the International Kickboxing Federation's Worl
Danika Thibault downs a mixture of Muscle Milk and water in her father's kitchen on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. The shake is a high-protein addition to her regular diet.
R.W. Brown, owner of the Academy of Human Performance, uses trigger point therapy to loosen up some of Danika's muscles in Aurora, Ill. on Tuesday, July 10, 2012.
Danika practices some of her countering techniques against Nate Beach, 20, as Pat White, a boxing and Muay Thai coach R.W. Brown (far left), and Sean Thibault (back left) look on at the Academy of Human Performance in Aurora, Ill. on Tuesday, July 1
Dr. Allen Van, of Van Orthopaedics, looks at an X-Ray of Danika Thibault's wrist in one of his exam rooms in DeKalb, Ill. on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Dr. Van asked Danika to get an MRI of the wrist and then come in for a follow-up.
Danika's father Sean tapes up her injured wrist prior to her first time sparring in over a month at the Academy of Human Performance in Aurora, Ill. on Tuesday, July 10, 2012.
Danika autographs pictures taken just after her victory in the championship kickboxing match in the flyweight division for 14-year-old girls in Orlando to give to her sponsors at her mom's house on Monday, July 30, 2012. 
Danika and Danielle Thibault take on 'The Kitchen Sink,' a large dessert at Tommy O's in Sycamore on Friday, July 27, 2012.
Danika pins her cousin Vincint Lopez to the ground after he told Danika she had a crooked nose and a high belly button at Danika's mother's house in DeKalb on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. Not Danika's first time wrestling in the house, she once threw her