The family of paralympic hopeful Morgan Stickney is asking for GoFundMe donations as she is facing a second amputation on October 8. Stickney suffered a staph infection in her foot that never healed and she was forced to undergo a below-the-knee amputation on May 14, 2018.
She made the best of her situation, becoming a national champion Paralympic swimmer in multiple events and she was selected to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
But while she was training in Colorado, she fractured her remaining foot and the wound would not heal for five months. Stickney found out she has an extremely rare vascular disease that prevents adequate blood flow from mid calf to her foot, weakening the lower limb.
Doctors found no other option but to amputate her leg.
The surgery, a revolutionary new procedure called the Ewing Amputation, is scheduled for Oct. 8 at Brigham and Women’s hospital. Morgan will become the first bilateral Ewing Amputee in the world and the surgeon, Dr. Matthew Carty, will also do revisions to her left residual limb, leaving Morgan legless until the wounds heal. But even then, she will no longer have her feet. It is a terrifying prospect for a 22 year old woman to face a life without two legs.
However, the family is having a difficult time paying for the lengthy hospital stays, medications, prosthetics, customized wheelchairs and home modifications are overwhelming. The family is facing a huge debt, exceeding a quarter of a million dollars.
Morgan Stickney’s goals remain the same — to win a spot on the Paralympic team and to pursue a career in medicine in order to help others facing similar hardships.
You can donate to the family’s GoFundMe page here.
Stickney’s story can be read in full here.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/morgan-stickney-backonmyfeet?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
So sad