A girl’s fight for life ended in a Maine hospital four days after a terrifying accident while playing badminton with her 10-year-old brother during an idyllic lakeside family vacation.
Six-year-old Lucy Morgan was hit on the head by part of her brother’s racket when it disintegrated while he was playing a shot on the last full day of their holiday in Limerick.
The girl was flown to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where her family was told she had suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the freak June 1 crash.
With no hope of recovery, her three little brothers joined their parents in her bed to sing their favorite hymn one last time before their little ‘Miss Independent’ died in the early hours of Wednesday.
“This is such a sad and tragic situation,” Maine State Police said. “Our hearts are broken for the family.”
Six-year-old Lucy Morgan died after a freak accident in which her younger brother’s badminton racket hit her in the head when it disintegrated during a game.
The young family from Stockholm, New Jersey, was enjoying an idyllic lakeside vacation in Maine when tragedy struck.
The young family was preparing to return to their home in Stockholm, New Jersey, after enjoying a week of kayaking and outdoor activities.
They had just finished lunch by the lake when the four children, ages 4 to 10, went to the front yard to play badminton, said Father Jesse Morgan, who is a pastor.
“Bethany and I were resting in the back when we heard screams,” he added.
“Due to a freak accident with a racket breaking when hit downwards, a sharp piece entered Lucy’s skull while she was sitting on the bench and caused a catastrophic injury.”
The aluminum shaft had detached from the wooden handle and hit Lucy in the head knocking her unconscious and unconscious.
She was taken by EMS to a local hospital and then by helicopter to Portland, where surgeons removed part of her skull to relieve pressure on her brain.
She was resuscitated after suffering cardiac arrest on the operating table, but doctors informed the family she had little chance of recovery.
Morgan, pastor of Green Pond Bible Chapel in Rockaway Township, began documenting his daughter’s fight for life over the next four days on his church blog.
Lucy was airlifted to Portland, where she suffered cardiac arrest when surgeons removed part of her skull to relieve pressure on her brain.
Four days later, her devastated family said goodbye to the girl.
And the next day, the devastated parents had to tell Lucy’s siblings that their sister was unlikely to recover.
“Upon entering the hospital room that the staff generously gave us, there were three little humans sleeping soundly,” their father wrote.
‘It hit us so hard at that moment that there were only three of us, not four. We broke the news as kindly as we could, but that’s a conversation you never want to have with a 4, 8, and 10 year old.
‘Shiloh collapsed immediately. She and Lucy are best friends being the middle ones.
‘She couldn’t imagine sleeping alone in her room. AJ was slow to catch on and she just wanted to be held, then she adopted her typical 4 year old machine gun interrogation style.
“Silas tried to hold it together like he was the tough guy, but then he started crying: ‘I don’t want to be a family of five.'”
The family began receiving hundreds of messages from well-wishers as news of Lucy’s condition spread. “Thank you all for helping us have hope,” Jesse wrote.
‘Ninety percent of the messages I receive I have no idea who they are. They are wonderful people used by God to provide comfort.’
But on Monday it became clear that the end was near, writing that there was a “significant lack of brain function” that left them facing a reality that was “absolutely devastating.”
“If there is any good news in this, it is that he has not felt any pain in the last few days,” the pastor added.
The four children had enjoyed a week of kayaking and outdoor activities before the accident.
Father Jesse Morgan said the family “can’t imagine life without Lucy-goose”
The day passed in a “blur” while a series of neurologists confirmed the prognosis and the family prepared to say their final goodbye.
As part of his final goodbye, Jesse said the family sang three verses of ‘He Will Hold Me Fast’ in what he described as ‘one of the most beautiful and sacred things I’ve ever been a part of.’
Brain death was declared at 1:32 a.m. on June 5 and his heart stopped beating around 4 a.m. that morning.
“I just taught about processing grief in the last adult Bible class I taught before the gap year,” Jesse wrote.
‘Am I willing to submit to my own advice? Right now holding his hand I’m not sure, but I want to.
“We’re holding on, but we can’t imagine life without Lucy-goose.”
TO GoFundMe.com The fund to support the family has raised more than $93,000 from more than 850 donors.
Lucy’s funeral will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. ET and will be livestreamed on www.greenpondbible.org.
