Morgan Dale was going to die.
Before even breathing her first breath, Morgan suffered two strokes and had four blood clots amassing her body.
Soon after Morgan was born, she underwent a failed heart valve operation.
Afterwards, the doctors told Shaney her daughter was not a candidate for a heart transplant.
“The doctor came out and told me there was nothing else he could do,” Shaney, who is a resident of Indianapolis, said. “I started asking about what other things we could do.”
Five days later, though, Morgan received a heart.
Now, 17 years later, Morgan stood at the foot of two gray steps, preparing to walk her first runway.
Her purple, blond and brown hair shined under the lights of Alumni Hall where more than 300 students gathered for the third annual Runway for Riley.
The event, hosted each year by IU Dance Marathon, invites children from Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis to showcase the new merchandise and apparel for the year.
The Runway Riley precedes the IUDM’s main fundraiser, an annual 36-hour dance marathon, scheduled for Nov. 14 to 16. Last year’s marathon raised $2.6 million in total.
The IUDM is the second largest student organization in America and spends an entire year raising money for Riley Children’s Hospital. Since its creation in 1991, the organization has raised more $16 million for the hospital.
Morgan was the oldest of 13 kids to tackle the runway Thursday night in a blue sweatshirt with the IUDM logo tagged across it.
Her favorite song, “The Rest of Us” by Simple Plan blasted as she and an IU student walked the runway.
“It’s about all of the people who are just not normal and are just unusual,” she said. “I’ve always been a little different myself and it just fits my life.”
She rounded the first corner on the runway, the smile widening across her face.
Then she reached the center of the central platform, lyrics pumping through the speakers.
“The lost, the geeks, the rejects, the losers / The wrong, the freaks, the hopeless, the futureks.”
Without hesitation she kicked out her foot and threw her fist into the air in a power stance.
The crowd exploded.
Behind her the host announced Morgan’s one wish: that no child ever be faced with a terminal illness.
The road to health was long and often hopeless.
When Morgan’s body developed coronary artery disease, the heart she had been given couldn’t do its job anymore, and valve stints wasn’t an option. Once again, it looked like the end.
“I had two mothers donate their child’s heart and my child has been fortunate and blessed,” Shaney said. “We’ve been able to give her a full life, and I can never repay them.”
It is events like Runway Riley that provide an outlet for Morgan and her mom to give back.
As a senior preparing to graduate from her home school courses, Morgan maintains two internships and participates in events across the state to raise awareness for organ donation.
Her health is the best it has ever been and with dreams of attending University of Southern Indiana, Morgan seems unstoppable.
“I’m good,” she said. “I get to go, for the first time in 18 years, five months without seeing my cardiologist. It’s a really big deal.”
