The father of a 6-year-old New Jersey girl, who tragically died from head trauma following a freak accident with a badminton racket on the last day of a family vacation, recalled his daughter’s “fun” personality and the heartbreaking day change. her lives forever.
Jesse Morgan, whose daughter Lucy passed away unexpectedly while playing with her siblings, shared memories of her with FoxNewsDigital. “His personality was very happy and also reserved at times,” he said. “Once you got to know her, she was very, very outspoken and very funny. She was a tough girl and she played a lot of soccer.”
Jesse, reflecting on photos of Lucy with his daughter and wife, Bethany, mentioned: “My wife just commented that her beauty is haunting. Some of those photos are just, she is so beautiful and her personality is so amazing.”
He fondly remembered Lucy as the “main pamper” of his family of six. “I just remember that she came up with her headboard (her hair) and she wanted to sit with you for a long time. Not restless, I just want to lie down with you and snuggle.
As pastor of Green Pond Bible Chapel in Rockaway, New Jersey, Jesse explained that his family vacation was part of his gap year. “We were in our first week (of sabbatical) and it was, according to her, the best week of his life,” he said. “We did so many fun things.”
Photos shared by the family showed Lucy and her three siblings, Silas, Shiloh and Atticus, enjoying activities such as fishing and kayaking in Limerick, Maine, before the tragic incident. The idyllic vacation ended abruptly on May 30, after a quiet lunch. Jesse and Bethany were reading and relaxing in the backyard while the kids played badminton. Suddenly, her son approached them, “very worried.”
“We came out and saw what had happened, which was just an indescribable terror that went from being so quiet, so peaceful to an incredibly traumatic experience,” Jesse recalled.
Lucy was hit when the handle of the racket, used by her 10-year-old brother, broke and flew into her skull. “Due to a freak accident with a racket breaking when she slammed it down, a sharp piece entered Lucy’s skull while she was sitting on the bench and caused a catastrophic injury,” Jesse explained on her blog, New Creation. Living room. “She was still breathing but she was unresponsive as she held her with Bethany crying out to God.”
Lucy was taken to a local hospital and later transferred to a hospital in Portland, Maine. Four days later, she succumbed to her injuries. “After extensive testing and even more repeated testing to be sure, she was declared brain dead at 1:32 a.m. on June 5 and her heart stopped beating around 4 a.m.,” Jesse wrote. “Lucia was with Jesus.”
Jesse and Bethany found comfort in their belief that Lucy “believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus.” Jesse recalled: “Four weeks ago, she asked Bethany how to be with God and be saved. Bethany explained it to her, but ‘Miss Independent’ wanted to do it herself. She went to her room and prayed to God to forgive her and believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus.”
They felt even more comforted after discovering Lucy’s prayer journal, which Jesse said felt “like God was writing to her.” And he added: “How a newspaper like this from six years ago surpasses me. After that, she seemed to suffer from writing block and limited herself to making beautiful drawings of Bible stories and hearts.” Reflecting on Lucy’s life and faith, Jesse and Bethany hold on to precious memories and the belief that she is now in a better place.