WAUSA – Aaron and Abbey Morgan are happy to be spending the holidays at home together with their children for the second consecutive year.
The rural Wausa couple are the parents of Aubrey Morgan, a 4-year-old girl whose life was changed forever when she and her family were involved in a two-vehicle collision on Nov. 9, 2021, in Norfolk.
Aubrey suffered severe spinal cord injuries in the crash and was hospitalized several places before finally being able to come home on April 28, 2022.
She can move her hands, arms, legs and feet, but she relies on other people to push her in a regular pediatric wheelchair to get around.
“She’s doing better and better,” Abbey said, noting Aubrey is “progressing, just slowly.”
Abbey noted her daughter still has a goal of walking someday.
“She says she’s going to,” Abbey said. “She still is very adamant that she is going to walk. And she says that she’s also going to get rid of her ventilator.”
Abbey described Aubrey’s doctors as “surprised and blown away” by her daughter, noting one of them called her a “miracle” during a recent appointment in Omaha at Children’s Nebraska, formerly Children’s Hospital & Medical Center.
Aubrey suffered C2 and C3 vertebrae fractures in the collision. The second and third vertebrae are located near the top of the spine in the cervical area, or neck region.
“At this location, it controls the muscle in your diaphragm to breathe,” Abbey said. “Aubrey also had a dislocation at the very top of the spine and spinal tear.”
The spinal tear tore the covering of the spinal cord, causing cerebrospinal fluid to leak out.
This fluid flows in and around the brain and spinal cord to help cushion them from injury and provide nutrients, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Abbey noted Aubrey did not undergo any operations for her injuries because the fractures fused together.
“Her body has absorbed the fluid,” Abbey said. “The tear acted as a window and not a door thankfully.”
She said Aubrey is a rare case of someone surviving these kinds of injuries.
“It has a 2 percent survival rate,” Abbey said. “At the location of injury, it shut down her breathing. Had it not been for a very special person coming by and giving her CPR, we would not have our Aubrey Rose.”
Abbey noted Aubrey’s doctors also have been “shocked” by her daughter’s ability to talk despite having a tracheostomy tube inserted in her neck to help her breathe.
“Typically with a trach, they’re sometimes silent and sometimes not able to (talk),” Abbey said, noting her daughter likes to talk a lot.
Aubrey is seen by various doctors at Children’s about once a year, with her most recent doctor’s appointments in Omaha happening in early December.
“We spent two, three days down there,” Abbey said. “I’m glad we got those appointments handled before Christmas so we could stay home for Christmas.”
Abbey, 28, noted Aaron, 34, takes time off from his job as a Vestas wind farm technician to attend as many of Aubrey’s doctor’s appointments as he can.
In addition to Aubrey, Aaron and Abbey are the parents of Liam, 3; Avery, 2; and Aunna, who was born in August.
“All the kids got a cold over Thanksgiving,” Abbey said. “We were really hoping and crossing our fingers that we didn’t end up in Omaha over Thanksgiving – we didn’t.”
She said Aubrey having a cold is a concern due to her being on a ventilator and dealing with the draining of nasal mucus.
“Everything that we drain and cough, hers is suctioned out,” Abbey said. “And she can’t cough (on her own).”
The Morgans have a machine that will help Aubrey cough. “She depends on a machine to get her airway clear,” Abbey said. “She doesn’t have the strength in her diaphragm to get it out.”
Aubrey also has a gastrostomy tube, or G-tube, which is inserted through the belly to bring nutrition directly to the stomach.
“She doesn’t depend on it 100 percent,” Abbey said. “She depends on it for hydration because she can eat (without using the G-tube).”
Aubrey’s favorite items to consume are McDonald’s Happy Meals, mashed potatoes, pudding and root beer. She also enjoys drinking ice water out of her Yeti cup.
She also enjoys hanging out at home and helping Abbey in the kitchen with baking and cooking.
“She likes to color,” Abbey said. “She loves to use her iPad. Her fine motor skills are not really there. She needs help with that, but she loves to do those things. That’s what keeps her entertained. She has preschool games on her iPad. She enjoys doing those. She really enjoys reading.”
Abbey said Aubrey is right on track as a 4-year-old as far as her brain development is concerned, adding her daughter is participating in Wausa prekindergarten via Zoom video conferencing.
Aubrey, with Abbey by her side, attended Wausa Public Schools in person for the first time on Dec. 18.
“She will go as she tolerates and wants to go,” Abbey said, noted Aubrey likely will go to school in person “more after Christmas break, I presume.”
Abbey has been a constant supporter for Aubrey and will continue to be when Aubrey attends school in person.
“I’ll be with her 24/7,” Abbey said. “That will probably not change for the next five years. It’s just safer for her and everyone else involved.” With four young children and three indoor pets – one cat and two dogs, the latter of which are a Pomeranian and a Yorkshire terrier – Aaron and Abbey have a busy household. “Aubrey enjoys her animals, too,” Abbey said. “They like to sit with her on the chair.” The couple have relatives in northeast Nebraska – including in Norfolk, the Morgans’ hometown, and Wausa – who help out however and whenever they can. “Everything’s pretty much as planned out as it can be as best as possible,” Abbey said. She and Aaron also have several friends who visit their home and help run errands when needed, including picking up and dropping off medications and supplies. Abbey noted Liam currently is in prekindergarten at Wausa, which is helpful during schooldays while she is busy caring for her other three children at home. “He goes to preschool in the morning, so the kids get a break from him, and then he gets to be with his other friends,” Abbey said.
Abbey noted Aubrey loves her siblings – including bossing them around as the oldest – especially snuggling with Aunna.
“She calls her, ‘Her baby,’” Abbey said. “She’s ‘Mama Aubrey.’ We nicknamed Aubrey as ‘Mama Aubrey.’” Abbey explained Avery enjoys being handson with Aubrey.
“She likes to see what her tubes are about,” Abbey said.
She described Liam as “very gentle” around Aubrey.
“He tries to stay off of things and tiptoe around,” Abbey said. “He’s just super gentle with her.”
The Morgans’ living room is full of medical equipment for Aubrey, including suction machines, two ventilators, a nebulizer, a machine for cough assistance, a pulse oximeter and a feeding pump.
They also have artificial manual breathing unit bags – also known as Ambu bags or bag valve masks – in various places throughout their home in case of emergencies.
Abbey noted she and Aaron have been told by Aubrey’s doctors that they run an inten sive care unit out of their living room.
The couple’s bedroom is located right off the living room, where Aubrey sleeps at night.
“The door’s open,” Abbey said. “We’re right next to her. She’s in the living room for that reason.”
The living room soon will be filled with the Morgans’ relatives for Christmas as they and their children get to enjoy spending another holiday at home together, more than two years after a car crash forever changed Aubrey’s life.
“It’s a full house,” Abbey said.
