A 6-year-old girl has died after being struck in the head by a badminton racket.
Lucy Morgan, from Stockholm, New Jersey, was playing with her siblings in the yard at their family’s lake cottage in Limerick, Maine, when the metal shaft of the racket broke off its handle and pierced her skull.
According to her father, Jesse Morgan, they were on the last day of their vacation when the ‘unintentional’ and fatal incident occurred. Lucy’s siblings had decided to play badminton in the yard while she sat on the sidelines.
Detailing the incident on his blog, he wrote that he and his wife were enjoying a quick lunch by the water when they heard screaming from the front yard.
First responders arrived at the scene at approximately noon local time and transported the girl to a medical center in Sanford. She was then transferred to another medical center in Portland.
Jesse said ‘[she] was immediately taken to the operating room’ where doctors removed a section of her skull to relieve pressure. During the procedure, she coded, but the medical team was able to get her back; they then finished the surgery.
Following the extensive surgery, Lucy was taken to the PICU, where she remained intubated. Doctors told the family that there was a very low chance she would recover, as she had no brain function, though she was able to breathe occasionally on her own.
Jesse wrote on his blog that ‘[they] were praying for a miracle’ and that ‘[they] can’t imagine life without [her]’.
On June 4, Jesse posted another update to his blog, writing that there was a high chance that Lucy would pass away within the next 24 hours. He noted, however, that she ‘hasn’t felt any pain’ over the past several days.
In the same blog post, he shared updates about his wife, who he described as ‘barely eating’ and the rest of their children, who were ‘processing [the incident] as best they can].
Lucy ultimately succumbed to her injuries on June 5.
Once the family returned home, they opened Lucy’s backpack and found her journal, where she had wrote about how much she loves Jesus and God.
Green Pond Bible Chapel, where her father is a discipleship pastor, will be holding a funeral service on June 15. The service will also be livestreamed on their website.
A GoFundMe was also started and has raised over $126,000 as of Monday afternoon.
‘She Was a Cuddler’
On his website, Jesse described the 6-year-old as a ‘cuddler’ who had a strong faith and was curious about God. He also wrote that she had ‘prayed to God asking for his forgiveness’ recently.
He said she had recently been singing the song ‘He Will Hold Me Fast’, which her family sang to her as she rested in the PICU room.
She also described Lucy as her ‘mother’s mini me’ and that she was ‘a great older sister’.
