NJ girl dies in freak badminton accident, 6-year-old asked haunting question about God weeks earlier that parents say was a ‘gift’

A 6-year-old New Jersey girl has succumbed to her injuries suffered while her family was playing badminton while on vacation in Maine. Weeks before her tragic death, the child asked a haunting question about God, which her parents consider to be a “gift.”

Last week, Lucy Morgan and her family were enjoying a summer vacation at an “amazing lake cottage” in Limerick, Maine. Suddenly, the family vacation turned into a complete nightmare on their last full day in Maine.

“We were eating a quick lunch by the lake and the kids decided to try badminton in the front yard,” father Jesse Morgan wrote on his New Creation Living blog. “Bethany and I were relaxing in the back when we heard screaming.”

Tragically, Lucy was struck in the head with the shaft of the badminton racket that broke while being used by her 10-year-old brother.

He explained, “Due to a freak accident with a racquet that broke on a downward swing, a sharp piece had entered Lucy’s skull while she was sitting on the sideline and caused catastrophic injury. She was still breathing but unresponsive as I held her with Bethany crying out to God.”

The young girl was rushed to a local hospital, but her injuries were so severe that she had to be airlifted by helicopter to the Maine Medical Center in Portland.

“Upon arrival she went right to the operating room where they removed part of her skull to relieve pressure and deal with her injury,” Jesse said.

Doctors told the father that his daughter had a “very slim chance” of recovery. She reportedly had no brain function and only “occasionally” breathed on her own.

Four days after the freak accident, Lucy Morgan died around 4 a.m. on June 5 after her heart stopped beating.

Lucy is survived by her father, her mother Bethany, a 10-year-old brother, an 8-year-old sister, and a 4-year-old brother.

Jesse Morgan – a pastor at Green Pond Bible Chapel in Rockaway, New Jersey – took solace that his young daughter had a strong faith in religion.

Jesse said of his daughter, “Four weeks ago she asked Bethany how to be with God and be saved. Bethany explained it to her, and Lucy, ‘Miss Independent,’ wanted to do it herself. She went to her room and prayed to God to forgive her and that she believed in Jesus’ death and resurrection. What a gift.”

Morgan recalled a moment from the last adult Bible class that he taught before his family vacation.

“I’ve been physically beating my chest asking for faith. I resonate with this quote I referenced in that class,” he wrote, then referenced this C.S. Lewis quote: “Knock and it shall be opened.’ But does knocking mean hammering and kicking the door like a maniac?”

The grieving father also quoted Psalm 72:12-14:

For he will rescue the poor who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper. He will have pity on the poor and helpless and save the lives of the poor. He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious in his sight.