Abacoa & Alton Neighbors - March 2026

COVER FEATURE W hen John Kemp Jr. was born in 2004, his arrival felt nothing short of miraculous. After multiple miscarriages, one of them life-threatening, doctors warned his mother, Jennifer, that she might never carry another child. The pregnancy that followed was carefully watched, filled with cautious hope. Yet John Jr. arrived healthy, with no signs of concern. For four years, life felt normal. Then the pain began. John Jr. began experiencing severe leg and back pain, along with headaches that kept him awake at night. “He complains something is squeezing his legs, and I’m up with him all night,” Jennifer told doctors. While those doctors initially dismissed the symptoms, Jennifer knew otherwise. “We were told it was growing pains,” she said. “But I knew it was something more.” The Kemp Family ENDURANCE, ADVOCACY, AND THE UNBREAKABLE WILL OF JOHN DAVID – By Dan Hauser | Photo by Neil Cohen Photography – PROFILES OF LEADERSHIP 8 A B A C O A & A LT O N N E I G H B O R S | M A R C H 2 0 2 6 condition, explaining that while many physicians might attempt to intervene, only a handful had meaningful experience with cases like John Jr.’s. That guidance sent the family north—first to Boston Children’s Hospital, then to Johns Hopkins. In March 2014, an angiogram in Boston failed to locate the source. Heartbroken, the family began the long drive home. From a hotel room along the way, they uploaded imaging to Johns Hopkins, unwilling to stop pushing. Weeks later, Hopkins called with a breakthrough. Doctors determined the issue was not a classic AVM but a rare venous malformation caused by an abnormal renal vein engorging John Jr.’s spinal cord. In July 2014 at Hopkins, interventional radiologists placed three titanium coils to block the abnormal blood flow. “We got a call from the surgeon saying, ‘We found the connection,’” Jennifer said. “We were incredibly grateful.” The following day brought one of the most terrifying moments of the journey. During a follow-up CT scan, what was believed to be a reaction to contrast dye caused John Jr. to code. “He sat up and screamed,” his father, John Sr., recalled. “His eyes rolled back.” Code blue teams rushed in, joined by a chaplain and security, ready for the unimaginable. The family later learned the scan had been ordered without the coordination of the surgical team. Miraculously, John Jr. was stabilized, and days later, the family returned home to Florida, hoping the worst was finally behind them. It wasn’t. Within months, John Jr.’s progress stalled. His heart rate spiked, pain persisted, and he again relied on a wheelchair. Local doctors struggled to understand the regression. For the Kemps, it was a painful reminder that survival required constant vigilance. By January 2015, the ongoing symptoms revealed another crisis. John Jr. was rushed to St. Mary’s Medical Center and diagnosed with a thyroid storm caused by undiagnosed Graves’ disease—a life-threatening condition. Months of instability followed, including a six- month return to Johns Hopkins and referrals to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2017, a CHOP surgeon removed John Jr.’s thyroid after multiple life-threatening episodes. “He’s been on medication ever since,” Jennifer said. “Managing it is still a daily effort.” That instinct—to push, to question, to advocate—would define the family’s journey for years to come. What followed was years of relentless searching within a disjointed healthcare system, as the Kemps moved from hospital to hospital seeking answers while watching their son suffer. In January 2014, Jennifer returned to local hospitals that had previously imaged John Jr., urging radiology departments to re-examine his scans. One radiologist agreed, discovering a spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM), an extremely rare and dangerous condition. Surgeons warned that intervention could leave John Jr. paralyzed. An ambulance rushed the family to Shands in Gainesville, where surgeons determined they could not intervene. Devastated but undeterred, their neurologist referred them to Miami Children’s Hospital, now Nicklaus Children’s Health System. There, doctors emphasized the rarity of the