New Jersey

Successful GoFundMe Helps New Jersey Teen with Autism

A New Jersey teenager with Autism is getting the help he needs thanks to a successful GoFundMe campaign and now his family is hoping they may be able to pay it forward.

Jack Morgan, a 14-year-old from Princeton, New Jersey, has been battling a complex case of Autism in which he injures himself, sometimes severely, with bruises, black eyes and internal bleeding. He was diagnosed as a toddler and as he's gotten older, has become more of a danger to himself, his mother Laura Morgan said.

Recently Jack was offered admittance to a highly-regarded program at the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) in Baltimore, Maryland. Treatment at the facility would help "address these behaviors so he and our family can start to live a happy and productive life," Morgan writes on the GoFundMe page. But it comes at a hefty six-figure price tag -- one the Morgan family's insurance company initially would only cover a fraction of. 

The GoFundMe campaign raised over $52,000, exceeding by a slight margin the $51,900 goal set. The page said 594 people gave in the last nine days.

With the help of local lawyer, Jodi Bouer, the insurance company has now agreed to cover the treatment and Jackson was admitted to KKI on Friday. However, the Morgans and Bouer caution the fight is not over.

"We can expect that our insurer will deny coverage for continuing services within the next few months of even weeks, hit us with uncovered and out-of-network medical expenses requiring another legal battle and potentially leaving us with a bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses,” Morgan writes on the GoFundMe page.

The money raised will help pay for expenses during Jack's treatment at KKI, if any issues should arise.

"We have a long road ahead," Bouer said. "We're hoping for the best case scenario."

The Morgans are "thrilled and humbled" by the amount of people who helped donate to the page and said they are happy the cause has highlighted the shortage of facilities like KKI. Should any crowdfunding money be left over, the Morgan family "plans on donating it to an autism-related charity to help other kids like Jackson get the help they need."

"Jackson's future is already looking a lot brighter because of your help," Morgan writes. "We thank you from the bottom of our heart for all that you have done for our family!"

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