Henderson teen part of Children’s Miracle Network campaign

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

Tabbie Morgan, 17, laughs with Debi Walsh, director of Children’s Miracle Network, while shopping for sunglasses Wednesday in preparation for her trip to Orlando and Washington D.C. as the Children’s Miracle Network 2009 Nevada Champion at Sam’s Club in Henderson.

By Becky Bosshart (contact)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 | 5:28 p.m.

A Henderson teen who suffered from a perforated colon and other ailments that critically altered her life, has been chosen to represent Nevada for the Children's Miracle Network national media campaign.

Tabbie Morgan, a Nevada State High School senior, will start the Champions Across America tour on March 18 with a celebration and media blitz at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. She will then visit Washington, D.C., possibly to meet President Obama, share her story and represent the 17 million children treated at Children's Miracle Network Hospitals every year.

Morgan said Wednesday morning at an award ceremony at Sam's Club in Silverado that she was proud to be one of the 51 children chosen to participate in the tour, which is presented by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.

"I've always wanted to change the lives of many people, and I think this is a great start," she said. "Making a difference is really big for me."

Morgan's health problems started when she was 14 with a gastric bypass surgery she had done at a California hospital. She'd always struggled with her weight and self-esteem, and the surgery seemed like a way to help fix her problems. Unfortunately, it only caused more.

The surgeons left a needle inside her, which poked holes in her intestine and stomach. The needle was discovered and taken out the next day, but it caused several infections in her stomach. When Morgan returned home, the pain got worse and she was checked in to St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. She spent 31 days in the intensive care unit on a ventilator after her left lung collapsed.

Her mother, Dona Morgan, said the special equipment provided to the hospital by the Children's Miracle Network saved her daughter. No one else had the children's ventilator and the special machines needed for her daughter's care, she said.

"It's pretty emotional," Dona Morgan said, tears rolling down her cheeks, after her daughter shared her story. "If it wouldn't have been for Children's Miracle Network and St. Rose, Tabbie wouldn't be here,"

"They never gave up on her," said her father, Ken Morgan, a Clark County Fire Department battalion chief.

But Tabbie Morgan's problems didn't stop there. When she was 16, surgeons removed a rare bowel tumor that was the size of a tangerine. Because of her health problems, she has to limit her activity and diet. Every six months she must have a CAT scan to make sure the tumor doesn't grow back.

Tabbie Morgan can't ever go scuba diving, which is something she's always wanted to do.

"But I can still go snorkeling," she said with a smile. She plans to use her $500 gift card from Sam's Club to buy items for her trip, including sunglasses and a beach towel.

St. Rose is the only local affiliate of Children's Miracle Network.

"In 2008, the Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Neighborhood Markets in Southern Nevada have raised over $200,000 for Children's Miracle Network," said Charlie Guida, president of the St. Rose Health Foundation. "That's double what the 33 stores collected in 2007."

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or becky.bosshart@hbcpub.com.