Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006
By KATHRIN KLENSHTEYN - Bulletin Staff Writer
The atmosphere at Carlisle's Morgan Dunnigan Night reflected a mixture of emotions.
Friends, classmates and coworkers of the Dunnigan family piled into the Laurel Park Middle School gym, their faces bright, their eyes less so in a mixture of happiness and sadness.
T-shirts reading, "Stay strong Morgan, we believe!" were everywhere.
They were encouraging Morgan Dunnigan, the 6-year-old daughter of Colin and Laura Dunnigan of Martinsville. Morgan is a first-grader at Carlisle and her father is the school's upper division director and college counselor.
After a tumor was found in Morgan's spine in December, she had an operation which removed most of it.
She is now undergoing therapy at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. On Tuesday night, Morgan's parents posted the results of a therapists' meeting. According to the post, Morgan is physically stable, can move her fingers and toes and can move her right arm. The physical therapy team anticipates future movement in other muscles.
"We're very hopeful," said Morgan Barker, 16, a Carlisle sophomore who was selling T-shirts at the event that was moved to Laurel Park in anticipation of large crowds. "Her spirit is very strong."
Basketball games were being hosted at Laurel Park and at Carlisle to help raise money for Morgan's medical expenses.
"It's a great thing everyone is here," said Ben Pinkston, 10, one of Morgan's soccer teammates. But, he added, "It's sad she's in the hospital."
His mother, Heidi Pinkston, said the Dunnigans are good friends of her family. She said that, for her, the atmosphere at Tuesday's fund-raiser was hopeful and exciting. But, she added, "There is some sadness."
Simon Owen-Williams, headmaster at Carlisle, said he found it hard to express his emotions in words. He said he was very happy everyone had come together, but that no one at the game forgot the importance of the night's goal.
"We're grateful to God that she's alive and that she's in a position to recover," he said. "We hope and pray that she'll make a full recovery."
He said he couldn't tell how many people attended the night's four games, but that about $2,000 had been raised after just the two first middle school games.
Deb Lazaro, Owen-Williams' executive assistant, said she was hoping to see 1,000 people attend the games.
She also said that she felt different emotions and that many attending most likely had underlying emotions they were trying to conceal.
She said she was excited something could be done but also that it was scary to think that it could happen to her own daughter, Elizabeth, who is 8.
But there was one man attending the games who expressed a very clear emotion: Gratitude.
Morgan's maternal grandfather, Rev. Russell Ingersoll, said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of help in Martinsville and Henry County.
"I've lived in a lot of communities, but I have never lived in a community that has been so strong and supportive and caring. I think it's an unusual place," he said.
Richard Hall and Manly Boyd helped organize the original Morgan Dunnigan Fund through the First Presbyterian Church.
"We knew right away that the insurance wasn't going to cover it all," Hall said.
According to Hall, the Dunnigans' insurance is great for inpatient services, but it's not designed to cover the kind of outpatient therapy Morgan is going to need.
Ingersoll said God has performed miracles since the operation and he believes God works through people too.
Pointing at Hall he said, "He doesn't know it, but I think he's an angel."
Ingersoll said when the operation was performed he prayed for a miracle and was disappointed when he walked into the hospital and Morgan did not raise her hand and wave to him. But he said he realized that tiny miracles have been happening all along.
"We are hopeful," he said. "Morgan very nearly didn't live. It's a miracle she did."
Other miracles he said happened include: The doctors told the family that Morgan would have to stay on the ventilator for at least a few months, but she is no longer on it; and doctors said she would need to use a tracheotomy for at least six months, but now she doesn't.
"We have seen miracles already," he said.
Ingersoll said he hopes Morgan will walk again one day and return to school. But, he said, whatever happens to Morgan he knows she has an incredible spirit.
"She is going to do something fine with her life," he said. "She is going to have an extraordinary life."
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