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Families both in and out of the local pageant community have shown their support over the last few days for a former queen who suffered a traumatic brain injury last week.

Morgan Eudy, 14, a freshman at West Stanly High School, was spending time at Ocean Lakes Campground in Myrtle Beach, where her family owns a home.

Morgan and her mother, Mandy, were working remotely from the beach Tuesday when Mandy said her daughter wanted to go out on the golf cart with some friends. She kept working on the computer while her daughter went out for about 15 minutes, came back a few minutes later, then went back out again.

“They were going to go back to ride the four-wheeler a little bit,” Mandy Eudy, a teacher’s assistant at West Stanly Middle School, said.

About 15 minutes later, Mandy heard screeching tires outside so she texted Morgan. She did not hear back from her daughter.

Minutes later, Morgan and her friend came back to the camper and went right to the bathroom. At first, Mandy said she thought her daughter was just sick to her stomach, but the 17-year-old boy she was riding with came up and started apologizing.

What she would later learn was Morgan was on her phone in the passenger seat with the boy driving when they took a left turn too sharply. She was thrown between five and 10 feet from the golf cart.

Her daughter could not tell her she had fallen off the cart and was incoherent, later not being able to even recall the incident.

A trip to the emergency room at Grand Strand South Hospital turned into a trip by EMS to the main branch after being diagnosed with multiple skull fractures, swelling on the brain, a brain bleed and a perforated eardrum in her right ear. One of her skull fractures, Mandy said, goes all the way down through to her ear, which is how her eardrum was injured.

Her progress has been slow, her mother said, as the family celebrates every little milestone like being able to eat just a little bit Friday night.

Doctors have told the family with this kind of significant brain injury, even with extensive therapy the prognosis for recovery could be from months to a full year.

“We’re just hanging on. We’re thankful that’s she’s here with us. The pain is very intense; that’s the hardest part,” Mandy said.

Even with two narcotic painkillers, anti-seizure medication and antibiotics, Mandy said it is not even touching Morgan’s pain.

“It’s hard to stop pain with the swelling of the brain,” Mandy said.

One thing for which the family has not lacked has been support from Stanly with Morgan’s immediate family all in Myrtle Beach. Her mother said the family has been overwhelmed with calls and prayers, gifts from miles away, even meals sent to their room anonymously.

“It gives me chills to know that this many people are standing behind your family and your daughter,” Mandy said, including the multiple residents of the Ocean Lakes community. “It’s amazing to me I can make one phone call, and within an hour, thousands of people are on their knees praying for my child.”

Morgan has been in the Stanly County pageant system since she was 3, her mother said, and has won multiple crowns including Majestic Miss Stanly County, Tiny Miss Majestic and a Carolina Princess.

Starla Whitley, the former Executive Director of the Stanly County Pageant Association, said Morgan and Mandy have been an active part of the association.

“Once a part of the pageant family, always a part of the family. Our hearts are heavy but we know without a doubt the power of prayer will see our Morgan through. She is a special young lady that I have watched grow up and my prayers for her complete healing are continuous.”

Mandy said she is shattered about what has happened to Morgan and she “could not do this without the help of our community.”

Efforts are underway to have T-shirts made with #MorganStrong on them and the phrase “Happiness Comes In Waves,” referring to the beach. A Go Fund Me page has been started at the following link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-morgan-eudy-amp-traumatic-brain-awarness?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Mandy mostly wanted to stress to people reaching out to them from home “how thankful and overwhelmed our family is with the amount of community support they have given us and our daughter.”