{"id":58198,"date":"2016-04-14T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=58198"},"modified":"2016-04-14T14:05:58","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T19:05:58","slug":"jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Morgan is Mississippi’s 2016-17 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jordan

Jordan Morgan smiles as he is announced 2016-17 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion for Mississippi on Wednesday in Clinton. Cheering him on are, from left, father Chris Morgan, grandmother Evelyn Morgan and mother Deborah Morgan.<\/p><\/div>\n

JACKSON, Miss. – A winning smile and a spirit that won\u2019t quit.<\/p>\n

Those are just two of the reasons why, amid the cheers of friends and family at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Clinton, Jordan Morgan, 13, was named the 2016-17 Children\u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals<\/a> Champion for Mississippi.<\/p>\n

Jordan and his classmates ate popsicles and enjoyed cheese dip, cookies and soft drinks at the celebration that counted Clinton Mayor Phil Fisher and Miss Mississippi<\/a> Hannah Roberts among the attendees.<\/p>\n

Born 11 weeks early, and weighing just 3 pounds, Jordan was given a dire prediction when his cerebral palsy was diagnosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was told he wouldn\u2019t be able to walk, feed himself or write his name,\u201d said mother Deborah Morgan. Since then, Jordan\u2019s been proving those predictions wrong. Not only does he walk and even run, sometimes on his own and sometimes with canes, he dances and, with the help of a walker, roller skates.<\/p>\n

Jordan not only can feed himself, he enjoys cooking, including his favorite top-secret recipe, \u201cGoo Sauce,\u201d a green concoction that can be a dip or a sandwich topping. He\u2019s also done more than just learn to write his name. Jordan, a seventh-grader at Clinton Junior High, keeps up with an active academic schedule and sings in the school choir.<\/p>\n

He also swims, is a member of the Mississippi Wheelcats wheelchair basketball team, plays the piano and one day wants to be a producer of movies and music videos.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just like everyone else,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cI just walk differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that message of inclusion of those with disabilities and of not setting limits on what can be achieved that Jordan wants to voice as the Children\u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion for Mississippi. \u201cKids should be allowed to work to their talent and abilities and shouldn\u2019t be judged by people based on what they see,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Coming to Batson Children\u2019s Hospital, Deborah Morgan said, was a dose of hope. \u201cIt gave us an indication of \u2018What if?\u2019 We saw a pediatric neurologist, \u2018Dr. Veda\u2019 (Dr. V.V. Vedanarayanan), who told us that Jordan is extremely bright. He said, \u2018You can teach him anything. He\u2019ll walk \u2013 it just won\u2019t be like everyone else does.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBatson Children\u2019s Hospital has been such a blessing for us,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve learned so much from them. I don\u2019t know where we\u2019d be without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan will make a great ambassador for the state\u2019s only Children\u2019s Miracle Network Hospital, said Dr. Benji Dillard, professor of pediatrics at UMMC. He\u2019s known Jordan for years through Camp Dream Street, a Utica-based summer camp for children with physical disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cJordan is never without a smile,\u201d Dillard said. \u201cHe\u2019s always got the energy to engage people and make them laugh, and he\u2019s always got a story to tell. When we\u2019re at camp, Jordan is the camper everyone wants to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Clark Packer, Children\u2019s Miracle Network coordinator at UMMC, said Jordan will be a strong advocate for patients and Children\u2019s Miracle Network hospitals. \u201cJordan was chosen as our 2016-17 Children\u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion because of his brave fight and his uplifting spirit.\u00a0 He always has a smile on his face and never meets a stranger.\u00a0We felt that he would be a great ambassador for Mississippi and Batson Children\u2019s Hospital because of the way he is able to communicate with people and generally put everyone around him in a good mood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan will spread his message outside the state as well. \u201cThe Champion gets the opportunity to represent the state for the year along with trips with the Champions from the other states and Canada in Washington, D.C., and Walt Disney World in Orlando,\u201d Packer said. \u201cIt is important to children\u2019s health because it gets the word out, not just about all the diseases there are, but also about the life-saving procedures and surgeries that these hospitals perform on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dabbing away tears of joy during Jordan\u2019s celebration Wednesday was his grandmother, Evelyn Morgan, of Columbus. \u201cThis just does my heart good,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Lord is still in the blessing business. Jordan has gained strength through all he has faced. This is wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also cheering on Jordan during his Children\u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion year is Corinne Sampson, a Batson Children\u2019s Hospital physical therapist who has watched him progress over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with Jordan has been a joy and a privilege,\u201d she said. \u201cHe is inspiring and fun, an amazingly bright young man who works so hard to be sure that his physical limitations don\u2019t limit him. Jordan has helped me teach my students and devise ways to make therapy more fun, kept me on my toes, made me laugh, and both challenged and inspired me with his determination and his dreams.\u00a0 He is, indeed, a champion!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JACKSON, Miss. – A winning smile and a spirit that won\u2019t quit. Those are just two of the reasons why, amid the cheers of friends and family at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Clinton, Jordan Morgan, 13, was named the 2016-17 Children\u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion for Mississippi. Jordan and his classmatesRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,221,199,473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nJordan Morgan is Mississippi's 2016-17 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Champion - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jordan Morgan is Mississippi's 2016-17 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Champion - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"JACKSON, Miss. – A winning smile and a spirit that won\u2019t quit. Those are just two of the reasons why, amid the cheers of friends and family at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Clinton, Jordan Morgan, 13, was named the 2016-17 Children\u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion for Mississippi. Jordan and his classmatesRead the story …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-14T23:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-14T19:05:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Jordan-Morgan_2-300x168.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Jordan-Morgan_2-300x168.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion\/\",\"name\":\"Jordan Morgan is Mississippi's 2016-17 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Champion - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-14T23:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-14T19:05:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/b50d8227752a4bc15dc36f74488aca5d\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/jordan-morgan-mississippis-2016-17-childrens-miracle-network-hospitals-champion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/b50d8227752a4bc15dc36f74488aca5d\",\"name\":\"whamilton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c89d29156b926a31c17485176d46ebdd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"whamilton\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58198"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58202,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58198\/revisions\/58202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}