Gig Harbor woman hospitalized after serious head-on wreck on state highway
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Gig Harbor woman hospitalized after Nov. 10 head-on crash with serious injuries.
- Prosecutors charged 21-year-old driver with vehicular assault while intoxicated.
- The woman’s daughter launched a GoFundMe to support her mother’s extensive medical care.
A Gig Harbor woman has been hospitalized for two weeks and counting after she and her husband suffered a serious head-on wreck in Okanogan County on Nov. 10.
Cindy Morgan, 70, has been in the acute care unit at Harborview Medical Center since Nov. 16, according to her husband Bill Morgan, 62. He said from the hospital Nov. 24 that improvements in her condition have been inconsistent. She spent several days in a medically-induced coma and has had multiple operations since she was hospitalized, he said.
“When Cindy came out of her coma, her first word was ‘Ouch,’” Bill said. “Her second words were, ‘I’m mad.’ And her third words were she told me she loved me. And I understand all that.”
An initial press memo from the Washington State Patrol about the wreck, which occurred around 3:50 p.m. Nov. 10 near Pateros, Washington, said that a 2015 Acura RDX entered the southbound lane of state Route 153 at milepost 2 for an “unknown reason” and struck the vehicle Bill Morgan was driving, a 2023 Kia Sportage. Both vehicles were totaled and came to rest blocking the highway.
Washington State Patrol troopers posted on X that the road had reopened, about five hours after the crash occurred.
The driver of the Acura was a 21-year-old man from Omak, Washington, the press memo said. Prosecutors charged him on Nov. 12 in Okanogan County Superior Court with vehicular assault while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug and causing “substantial bodily harm to another,” according to court records. His trial is pending following his initial court appearance and arraignment.
Bill Morgan told The News Tribune that the couple had been heading to Manson, a small town on Lake Chelan, when they were hit. They have a timeshare in Manson and were heading there from another town where they’d spent the afternoon, he said.
Cindy Morgan had to be extricated from the vehicle and airlifted to Confluence Health Hospital in Wenatchee. The State Patrol press memo said Bill Morgan was unhurt, but he explained in a phone call with The News Tribune that he suffered a broken back and internal bleeding. He declined to be transported by first responders because they were going to take him to a different hospital than the one his wife was going to, and he wanted to stay with her, he said. A friend picked him up instead and drove him to the hospital in Wenatchee.
The 21-year-old driver was also injured and transported to Three Rivers Hospital, the press memo said. That hospital is in Brewster, Washington.
Cindy Morgan’s daughter set up a GoFundMe to help cover her mother’s extensive medical care and other needs. The wreck left her with broken bones throughout her body, a lacerated liver, internal bleeding and other serious injuries. Doctors expect she will need six to eight weeks of hospitalization and rehabilitation, the GoFundMe says.
Because of the severity of her injuries, she had to be airlifted again from the Wenatchee hospital to the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. She is now in the acute care unit and has made progress — she can drink liquids by herself and sit up in bed and talk — but “it’s going to be a long road,” Bill Morgan said.
He has been driving up from Gig Harbor to Seattle every day to stay with his wife in the hospital. He won’t be able to work in his auto body job for at least six weeks, he said. The GoFundMe says Cindy Morgan is retired.
“Just trying to keep us afloat right now,” Bill Morgan said.
“ ... so by the time you get the (other driver’s) insurance company that hit us, our car insurance company, our medical insurance, everything, what portion of millions are we going to be stuck with after the fact?” he said. “I’ve got no clue.”
This story was originally published November 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
