West Virginia Car Accident Survivor Gives Blood, Raises Money | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

On January 5, 2011, Beckley high school student Jordan Morgan was traveling on Rural Acres Drive when he was involved in a severe car accident. He was rushed to the Charleston Area Medical Center with multiple broken bones, two collapsed lungs, and a dislocated jaw. During his life-saving treatment, he was given eleven pints of blood, all of which had been collected from volunteer donors.

Eight months later, Morgan, a 17-year-old student at Woodrow Williams High School in West Virginia, is trying to give back to the community. Together with friends, family, and his church, the teen was celebrated this weekend with a blood drive event that also raised funds for the Morgan family, who has been struggling to pay the accident-related medical bills and rehabilitation bills. Between the blood drive and a smaller benefit organized by Morgan’s parents earlier in the week, the community raised $4,000 for the family and 80 pints of blood for the Red Cross.

While some of the donors had given blood in the past, some, like many of Morgan’s high school classmates, donated for the first time despite their fears. Some said that the car accident opened their eyes for the need for blood in emergency situations and made the act of donating blood more meaningful.