NEWS
N.J. girl, 6, dies after badminton racquet breaks, pierces her skull during Maine vacation

Updated: Jun. 07, 2024, 3:45 p.m. | Published: Jun. 07, 2024, 11:44 a.m.


Lucy Morgan, a 6-year-old New Jersey girl who died in Maine following a tragic accident involving a badminton racquet.Jesse Morgan

By Jeff Goldman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A 6-year-old New Jersey girl has died days after the aluminum shaft of a badminton racquet pierced her skull while she was playing with her brothers and sister during a vacation at a lake cottage in Maine, authorities and the family said.

The Morgan family, who live in the Stockholm section of Hardyston in Sussex County, were enjoying their last full day of vacation in Limerick on Saturday afternoon when tragedy struck, according to the girl’s father Jesse Morgan, a pastor at Green Pond Bible Chapel in Rockaway Township.

After the family finished eating lunch by the lake just before noon, the children went to the front yard to play badminton, Morgan said. ... Lucy was sitting on the sidelines when the racquet being used by her 10-year-old brother broke on a downward swing, dislodging the aluminum shaft from the wooden handle, Maine State Police said.

The shaft then entered Lucy’s skull, causing a traumatic brain injury, the family and authorities said. ... Lucy was brought by ambulance to an area hospital before being flown to a hospital in Portland, Maine. She died of her injuries four days later — early Wednesday morning.

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