STICKNEY Morgan

Classification
S8, SB7, SM8 (IPC, 05 Aug 2021)

Type of Impairment
Limb deficiency (boston.com, 30 Jun 2021; nytimes.com, 03 Mar 2019)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (boston.com, 30 Jun 2021; nytimes.com, 03 Mar 2019)

Impairment Details
She broke the sesamoid bones, two jelly bean-size bones under her left big toe, before a swimming race in 2013. The seemingly minor injury resulted in constant, debilitating pain that four surgeries and numerous doctors were unable to resolve over the next five years. A staph infection and the prospect of long-term painkiller addiction led her to elect to have her lower leg amputated in May 2018. In October 2019 she had her right leg amputated after an injury to her right foot led to her being diagnosed with a rare vascular disorder, cutting off the blood supply to her foot. (boston.com, 30 Jun 2021; nytimes.com, 03 Mar 2019)

General
OPTING FOR AMPUTATION
Numerous surgeries and doctors were unable to treat the excruciating pain she suffered in the five years after her 2013 injury, and she became dependent on a variety of painkillers. She continued swimming despite the pain, and won a scholarship to Biola University near Los Angeles, but the painkillers were impacting her ability to study and her father said the family felt they were "losing her" to the drugs. "I went to class high. There were times I took so many pills and I was scared that I had overdosed. Opioid addiction is an epidemic. I didn't want that to become my life." In 2017 a staph infection surfaced in her injured foot, and she opted for amputation. In October 2019 she had a second amputation, this time on her right leg due to a rare vascular disorder. "The unimaginable happened again. I began to feel the same, familiar pain in my right foot. I was terrified. Following an angiogram, my doctors determined that there was a never-seen-before lack of blood flow from mid-calf down to my foot. Essentially, my foot was dying and there was no explanation. My only option was to undergo another below-the-knee amputation making me a bilateral amputee. Losing my first leg was difficult, but it will never compare to the loss of my second leg. When it was time to lose my first leg, I almost felt ready as I had suffered for the six years prior. I was no longer able to walk, bare weight, or even move the foot. But when I learned about my right leg I was physically and emotionally destroyed. It felt as though my life just came crashing down and I wouldn't ever be able to re-build it. Although I felt hopeless and lost, I made a promise to myself that I would get through it, remain positive, and make the most of my situation." (boston.com, 30 Jun 2021; medium.com, 15 Sep 2020; nytimes.com, 03 Mar 2019; swimswam.com, 16 Oct 2018)

OTHER STUDIES
She has studied pre-medicine at Biola University in La Mirada, CA, United States of America. (medium.com, 15 Sep 2020)