The Amazing Woody Morgan

Woody Morgan is an inspiration to us all.

A 2006 graduate of , Woody grew up in Ansley Park. He was a top student at both and schools. At Grady, he continued earning straight A’s and was a powerhouse sweeper on the varsity soccer team.

Woody is also a 2011 magna cum-laude graduate of the University of Georgia and this year became an official “Amazing Student” at UGA for his accomplishments against the odds. And now he’s about to head to medical school.

Without the use of fine motor skills, he may not be able to become a surgeon, for example, but there are other fields awaiting the future Dr. Woody Morgan. He might choose radiology. He’s also drawn to physiatry, or physical medicine and rehabilitation, to work with patients who have endured a traumatic injury, such as the one that three years ago left Woody a quadriplegic.

The Accident

During his sophomore year at UGA, Woody did what many college students do for spring break: He hit the beach. It was March of 2008, and Woody, then 20, not only hit the beach at Destin, but the Gulf of Mexico waters smacked him back in some weird way — damaging his spinal cord’s C-5 and C-6 vertebrae.

The freak accident left Woody paralyzed from the breastbone down and confined to a wheelchair.

“I was just doing a dive into the crest of a typical wave,” Woody recalled. It was the sort of dive he had done “hundreds and hundreds of times.”  But Woody didn’t jump right out from that wave. The friends who were with him in the water later told him that he was “just laying there in the water face-down and they first thought I was joking.”

Woody, now 23, doesn’t do much looking back. For starters, he hasn’t had the time. After several months of rehabilitative therapy at Atlanta’s Shepherd Center, which specializes in treatment of spinal cord injuries, Woody went straight back to UGA in Athens.

“There was a time when I was at Shepherd and I realized I could’ve just kept doing rehab indefinitely,” Woody said. “But my friends were in Athens and I wanted to experience college with my friends. I wanted to go to the football games with my friends. I didn’t want to sit around forever with my parents or doing rehab like that was my job. I wanted school to be my job again.”

And that became more than a full-time job. There were many days, especially during the summer prior to his senior year, when he studied 10 to 12 hours a day to prepare for the medical college admissions test. Woody was also an involved student. He was selected from a large number of student applicants to serve on a panel that advised the director of the UGA Health Center. He helped organize Dawg Gone Healthy, a campus health festival. And he was president of a student chemistry club. Due to his involvement and his sterling academic record, Woody this spring was nominated by a faculty member and then selected to be an “Amazing Student” at UGA. 

The Family's Dedication

His mom Nell, who worked as a retail buyer before dedicating herself to school and community volunteerism, had learned all she could at Shepherd so she could become her son’s chief caregiver. She took an apartment in Athens close to the one Woody shared with fellow students. Day in and day out, she has helped 6-foot-4 Woody (her “gentle giant” with a “heart of gold”) get dressed, bathe, get to bed — and myriad tasks in-between. She also helped her son get to and from classes, to and from parties.

“The goal has been for him to have as close to a normal college experience as possible,” Nell Morgan said.

A biology major, Woody graduated with a 3.83 grade-point average last month. In addition to keeping up with his demanding course load, he also spent much of this year studying for the required medical college admissions test.

Some pre-med students are hugely relieved when they get into just one medical school. Woody did “very well,” he said, “OK, extremely well,” on that exam. He won admission to three top med schools and chose the first to accept him: Tulane University School of Medicine. Now, Woody and Nell are gearing up for the big move to New Orleans next month.

Woody’s dad Randy is a doctor, and he also plans on spending as much time in New Orleans as possible. “Woody Goes to Med School” is sort of  becoming a family project, although younger sister Lilly will stick closer to home. She’s a student at Georgia State University.

Nell is committed to being her son’s caregiver “for as long as he wants me to do it,” she says. “At some point, he will probably want someone else to take over, but he knows that I am always here for him and willing to do whatever it takes for him to move forward with his life.”

A Future Doctor

Woody pretty much always saw himself going into medicine. What has amazed his friends and family is that a major disability has not broken his confidence to pursue his longtime goals.

“The injury has changed my life in lots of different ways,” Woody said, “except that I am still the same person with the same dreams, desires and determination.”

“He has such incredible spirit and drive,” Nell Morgan said of her son. “He was always a positive kid, but even I’ve been amazed at his positive attitude and resilience. He never complains. And he’s always so nice to me.”

How nice Woody is seems to be a recurring theme. Lauri Lindberg, who lived with Woody at UGA both before and after his injury, said  “Woody complained a lot more before he got hurt.  I honestly can’t think of one time when he has complained since he got hurt. And I don’t think he’s ever said ‘Why did this have to happen to me?’

Lindberg, who now lives in Virginia-Highland and works as a microbiologist for the , added that Woody’s “good-humored nature seems to turn any obstacle into comic relief.”

Most important, Nell said, is that “Woody’s always the one driving the cart. That’s what I mean about keeping his life as normal as ever. If it can be done, then he’s going to do it.” He might go out with friends to watch soccer at the . If the Braves are in town, he likes to head to Turner Field. Certain friends of his “have earned the right to drive the van,” Nell said.

Living as a disabled person has changed Woody physically of course, but also mentally. It has “helped show me what’s important in life and what’s not,” Woody said. “I’ve found out that real friends and your family are going to be there for you no matter what life throws at you. I’ve learned not to stress over the little bumps in the road, because now they don’t seem very important.”

So is there anything he is very worried about? Is there anything he needs — besides scholarship money?

“Yeah, I need a girlfriend!” Woody said, chuckling.

“The thing that stands out the most for me regarding Woody is his acceptance of his condition,” said Kevin McGlynn of Morningside. “A complete acceptance. I am sure he has had his moments of self pity, but they are outnumbered by his confidence and his desire. Woody has always been a competitor and nothing deters him once he gets his mind set on something.”

McGlynn’s son Patrick (or PJ) has been close friends with Woody since the boys’ days at Morningside Elementary.  In their freshman year, Woody and PJ were roommates at UGA.

Now Woody has four years of medical school ahead of him. That will be followed by a medical residency of three to seven years, depending on the specialty Woody pursues.

He doesn’t seem to be dreading all the hard work ahead of him.

Woody “is amazing,” Kevin McGlynn said, “but he has always been amazing. Getting into med school was not that surprising to me. I gave up being surprised by Woody long ago.”