Father of 6-year-old New Jersey girl dies from head injury Unforeseen accidents In the wake of a badminton racket tragedy on the last day of a family trip, he shared his daughter’s faith and the hope they maintained even in the midst of tragedy.
Jesse Morgan, whose 6-year-old daughter Lucy died suddenly in a badminton accident while playing with her siblings, spoke to Fox News Digital about her daughter’s faith, which continues to sustain their family of six.
“Even though she had an imperfect understanding of life, I have no doubt that she loved Christ, she loved God,” Morgan said, “and God welcomed her into heaven.”
“That was incredibly big,” he added of Lucy’s faith.
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Lucy Morgan, age 6, a few days before her fatal accident during a family vacation in Maine. (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
Lucy Morgan wrote in her prayer journal: “God is so amazing. He is the true God, he created all things and he died on the cross for our sins.” (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
“In her imperfect understanding of life, she loved Christ and she loved God…”
Jesse said that when the family returned to their home in New Jersey after Lucy died in a Portland, Maine, hospital, a friend dropped off Lucy’s backpack, which contained 6-year-old Lucy’s treasured diary.
Lucy’s prayer journal became a bright reminder during the family’s darkest days.
“My wife got it a month before she passed away,” Jesse says. “It was her idea. She’s a journaler, and she said, ‘Hey, you can write something in this. You can write a letter to God.’ She even wrote some spelling words for me.”
Photos from Lucy’s diary reveal the 6-year-old’s thoughts: “God is good,” she wrote, and “He created everything and died on the cross for our sins.”
Lucy wrote, “I love Jesus,” with a heart in her prayer journal. (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
“She’s a child, and one of our concerns is that we want our children to know God,” Jesse said. “And it’s not out of fear, or demands or coercion. We want to force our children to see the love of Christ, and that, imperfect as we are, they’ll see God’s love reflected back to us, and they’ll want more of it, and they’ll want to pursue God.”
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Morgan said witnessing Lucy’s childlike faith has been “one of the most beautiful gifts.”
“I believe her faith was the size of a mustard seed.”
“I believe she had faith the size of a mustard seed,” he said, “and Jesus calls children to come to him. Her understanding as a child was limited, but one of the most beautiful gifts was that she was able to open her heart and look at what she had written and drawn.”
Lucy was transported by medical helicopter to a nearby children’s hospital and then transferred to a hospital in Portland, Maine. (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
As pastor of Green Pond Bible Chapel in Rockaway, New Jersey, Jesse makes it his priority to reach his four children with the gospel of salvation.
“We explained the gospel to our kids every day,” Jesse said, “and it wasn’t a one-time thing.”
“We try to have constant conversations with our kids, but the questions start to arise,” he said. “Did I say it right? Did I do it right?”
Jesse revealed that before his wife died, he and his wife had been struggling with whether they had properly shared the gospel with their 6-year-old daughter.
“Have I done enough as a father and as a mother to convey to my children that Jesus died for them, that He loves them, and that we need His love, His death and His resurrection?” Morgan said she asked herself.
Lucy died from her injuries four days later, according to her family. (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
Lucy’s father said he started the blog, New Creation Living, as “simply a cry for help”.
“The initial post was just a cry for help to people I knew would pray for us. For me, it was a way to release the trauma I was carrying in my body,” he said. “I’ve always found that to be a helpful process in the process of grieving, confusion and anger.”
“I think God was willing to use it. It was overwhelming, but I just keep asking myself to be myself and be authentic.”
Jesse explained that while people keep saying they’re amazed at the family’s faith following the heartbreaking death of their young daughter, it’s not that simple.
“We weren’t going to hang on. There was a big part of us that wanted to end our relationship with God,” he said. “But we couldn’t do that. It was never going to happen.”
Lucy with her mother Bethany and sister. Jesse Morgan said he and his wife had been relaxing and reading a book when the badminton accident happened. (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
Jesse said he believes God created circumstances in his family’s life to prepare them for Lucy’s death.
“I feel like God has put all these things in our lives to prepare us for this,” he said. “I don’t even know what it means in God’s plan, and I’m not going to try and do God’s math to figure it out and explain it.”
Jesse said that two days before Lucy’s unexpected death, the family sang “He Will Hold Me Fast” by Christian singers Keith and Kristin Getty and Selah.
“It can be summed up in the first line: ‘When I fear my faith will fail, Christ holds me fast,'” Jesse recalled. “I never actually felt it, but I felt the prayers of millions and thousands of people. I can’t tell you how many people are praying and helping us. That’s it.”
Lucy’s prayer journal also included pictures of her family and the Bible, her father said. (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
Jesse said he wants people to know about the “miracle” that is happening amid his family’s suffering.
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“Only Christ can sustain us.”
“The only thing that sustains us is Christ,” he said. “I don’t want people to be shocked by this tragedy. I want them to see the miracle. God didn’t perform a miracle and bring her back to life, but God did perform a miracle,” he said. “And what I want people to see is that in our hearts we still trust God.”
Lucy’s siblings stand beside her in the paediatric intensive care unit. (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
Lucy died from head injuries. Unforeseen accidents On the last day of a family vacation in Maine, I had an accident with a badminton racket.
Lucy suffered an unexpected blow when the shaft of a racket being played by her 10-year-old brother broke off and flew into her skull.
“A freak accident occurred when her racket broke as she was swung downwards, causing sharp shrapnel to penetrate Lucy’s skull as she was sitting on the sideline, causing severe injuries,” Jesse explained in a series of blog posts. New Creation Living“As I held her, Bethany was crying out to God and was still breathing but unresponsive.”
Lucy was rushed to a local hospital and then transferred to hospital. Portland, Maine.
Lucy and her three siblings on vacation in Maine. (Jesse Morgan, New Creation Living Blog)
Lucy died from her injuries four days after the accident.
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“After extensive and further definitive testing, he was pronounced brain dead at 1:32 a.m. on June 5th and his heart stopped at approximately 4 a.m.,” Jesse wrote.
“Lucy was with Jesus.”
