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KARCH, MISTY, KERRI AND LAMBO'S
#1 FAN
Volleyball Magazine
October 2005, Volume 16 Issue 10
By Mike Miazga
Editor in Chief
Kyle Morgan is one tough guy.
The 20-year-old Scottsdale, Ariz. resident and huge AVP fan
has faced some rather extreme obstacles in his life.
Morgan was born with the rare Marshall-Smith Syndrome, a
skeletal disorder that leaves bones very susceptible to fractures.
When he was born, there were less than 15 documented cases
of the syndrome. Information on the syndrome was sparse because
the other children with the ailment died before their second
birthdays.
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| Kyle Morgan with AVP stars Misty May-Treanor
and Casey Jennings at the 2005 Hermosa Beach Open. |
The syndrome also wreaked havoc on his spine through the
course of his childhood years. To alleviate the pain, Morgan
made the gut-wrenching decision at the age of 17 to have a
cordectomy performed—the cutting of the spinal cord.
The procedure was done at waist level, meaning Morgan can
no longer feel his legs.
"That's an incredibly courageous decision for anybody
to make," said his mom, Karen. "But now he is basically
pain-free."
Morgan, a huge Arizona Diamondbacks baseball fan, also survived
a harrowing illness (at one point it was considered life-threatening)
that kept him hospitalized for six weeks in early 2004.
But in a carbon copy of his earlier life, Morgan took the
hand that was dealt to him and laid down 21 on the table once
again.
"Kyle has an incredible spirit and strength," said
Karen Morgan. "Self-pity is not in his vocabulary."
What is in his vocabulary is his love for the AVP. Morgan,
who has two sisters (Carly, 16, and Kelly, 21), has been a
fan of the beach game dating back to the 2000 Olympics (his
father, Mike's affinity with the sport goes back even earlier
than that).
Morgan was invited by the AVP to attend last year's Best
of the Beach event in Hawaii. Morgan couldn't make it, ironically
enough because he had just returned from a vacation there.
But Morgan was front and center at the AVP Tempe stop this
year and also attended the Hermosa Beach event where he came
away with one heck of a souvenir: Misty May-Treanor's championship
trophy.
"Blown away would be putting it mildly," said Karen
Morgan, who said the family will be in Hawaii this year at
the same time as the Best of the Beach event. "On the
way back to the hotel we were looking at each other like,
'can you believe it?' I've never seen that kind of warmth
and openness from a star athlete to one of their fans. It
was completely overwhelming. Misty giving her trophy to Kyle…it's
not every day that you see that from an athlete that has been
to the Olympics and is so accomplished in her field."
Kyle Morgan is accomplished in an important field as well.
He's accomplished in the field of life—living every
day to its fullest with unending spirit and zest.
Mike Miazga
Editor in Chief
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