Six-Year-Old Girl Dies After Badminton Racket Breaks During Family Vacation

It was supposed to be an ordinary family vacation — a backyard game that ended in an unimaginable tragedy.

Lucy Morgan was just six years old when she died following a freak accident at a rental property in Limerick, Maine, in June 2024.

Lucy was on vacation with her family while her older siblings were playing badminton in the yard. When Lucy swung her racket, the head and metal shaft suddenly separated from the handle.

The detached portion flew through the air and struck Lucy in the temple. According to her family’s lawsuit, the metal shaft pierced her skull and entered her brain.

Lucy was airlifted to Maine Medical Center, where doctors fought to save her life. She died several days later.

Now, her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Franklin Sports, the company that manufactured the racket.

The lawsuit alleges that the racket was defective, claiming the adhesive used to connect the head to the shaft was inadequate. The family also alleges that the racket lacked a secondary safety restraint that could have prevented the pieces from separating.

The racket was not described as a specialized or unusual product. It was the kind of everyday badminton racket commonly found in backyards, rental homes and vacation properties — something most people would never think twice about placing in a child’s hands.

For Lucy’s family, that ordinary object became the source of an unimaginable loss.

They remembered Lucy as a bubbly little girl with what they described as a “haunting beauty.” Just four weeks before the accident, Lucy had asked her parents questions about being with God and how to be saved — memories that have taken on an especially profound meaning for her family following her death.

The lawsuit now seeks accountability for what the family believes was a preventable product failure.

For those who loved Lucy, however, no legal outcome can change what happened.

A family vacation.
A backyard game.
A badminton racket that suddenly came apart.

And a six-year-old girl whose life ended far too soon.

Source: FOX 13