6-year-old daughter of New Jersey pastor dies from freak accident as family enjoys final day of vacation

Tragedy struck a New Jersey pastor and his family enjoyed the final day of their vacation.

Lucy Morgan, the 6-year-old daughter of a New Jersey pastor passed away days after an aluminum piece from a badminton racket broke off and pierced her skull, according to her family and local police.

The tragic incident occurred early Saturday afternoon as the family was enjoying their final day of vacation at a cottage in Limerick, Maine.

Lucy's father, Pastor Jesse Morgan, reported that the family had just finished lunch by the lake when Lucy and her siblings went to the front yard to play badminton.

Morgan, the Pastor of Worship and Discipleship at Green Pond Bible Chapel in Rockaway wrote in his blog, New Creation Living, “[Lucy’s mother] Bethany and I were relaxing in the back when we heard screaming.

The Morgan family of New Jersey was enjoying their last day of a vacation in Maine when the tragedy occurred. via Jesse Morgan /Facebook

“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,” he wrote in an entry titled “Lucy’s Story: Calamity Strikes.”

On Friday, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said investigators determined the incident occurred when Lucy was playing with her 10-year-old brother.

Investigators said the aluminum shaft of a badminton racket became dislodged from its wooden handle before hitting the girl in the head and piercing through her skull.

Lucy was rushed from the cottage in Limerick to a local hospital. Police say she was later flown to Maine Medical Center in Portland, some 30 miles east of Limerick.