A family in New Jersey is taking matters to court and urging authorities to investigate the root cause of a broken racket that caused the death of their school-age daughter.

The God-loving family has filed a wrongful death and product liability lawsuit against sports equipment manufacturer Franklin Sports after six-year-old Lucy Morgan was fatally injured by a broken badminton racket during a vacation in Maine.

The tragic incident occurred during a family trip on June 1, 2024, when the metal shaft of a badminton racket detached from its wooden handle during use. Morgan was not the one using the racket; it was her brother, according to police. The loose piece of metal flew across the yard and struck the kid in the head, piercing her skull. The other three siblings witnessed the tragedy unfold.

Morgan was taken to Southern Maine Health Care in Sanford and then airlifted to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

“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,” her father, a pastor at Green Pond Bible Chapel in Rockaway, New Jersey, wrote in their family blog, New Creation Living.

“In the PICU we are being told that there is a very slim chance she recovers. She is currently intubated, has no brain function but occasionally breathes on her own. We are praying for a miracle, but our hearts hurt with incomprehensible pain.”

She died four days later on June 5, 2024.

The lawsuit alleges that the racket was defective and that the manufacturer did not abide by the safety protocols. Attorneys representing the New Jersey family argue that the maker company failed to use adequate adhesive or a low-cost safety pin in the handle that would have kept the metal shaft intact.

The legal team argues that it wasn’t the first time the racket had caused accidents and that the manufacturer was well aware of the safety hazards. Previously, a child in New York lost an eye after the shaft detached similarly. However, the company failed to fix the racket’s design.

Lucy’s parents filed the product-liability suit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for funeral expenses and emotional distress. Their attorneys stated the lawsuit aims to hold the manufacturer accountable and force safety updates to prevent similar tragedies.

“This case represents a parent’s worst nightmare,” Attorney Charles P. Hehmeyer, who is representing the grieving family, said in a statement. “The Morgan family was enjoying an idyllic summer vacation here in Maine when they lost Lucy due to what we allege was a dangerous and defective piece of sports equipment.”

“We are just beginning to trace the outlines of this bomb crater in our lives. The days are long, numbness feels painful, sadness feels painful, smiling feels painful, crying feels painful.”

“We are working at allowing whatever comes up in our hearts to just be there without judgment before each other and Jesus, but grief is unpredictable. The kids are resilient, but also fragile at times. We have had sweet times together laughing and crying, but the grief is still thick in the air. There really isn’t much else to say in a form of an update,’ the grief-stricken father said in the latest blog post.

Franklin Sports has refused to comment on the suit, citing “pending litigation.”

Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently verify the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public record.