Alex Malarkey, a young boy who coauthored a book with his father first published in 2010 about going to heaven and returning to earth, wrote an open letter to Christian publishers retracting his story.
In 2004, Malarkey and his father, who is a Christian therapist, were in a bad car accident that left the 6-year-old boy paralyzed and in a coma.
According to the book’s Amazon page: “When Alex awoke from a coma two months later, he had an incredible story to share. Of events at the accident scene and in the hospital while he was unconscious. Of the angels who took him through the gates of Heaven itself. And, most amazing of all … of meeting and talking with Jesus.”
The letter that Alex, who is now 16, wrote to publishers said he made the whole thing up: “I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough.”
Two major Christian bookstores, Lifeway and Tyndale House, have announced plans to pull the books from stores.
In April, Alex’s mother, Beth Malarkey, wrote on her blog that the book was untrue. She also implied that Alex had not received the proceeds from the book sales:
It is both puzzling and painful to watch the book The Boy who Came Back from Heaven to not only continue to sell, but to continue, for the most part, to not be questioned … The ones making money from the book are NOT the ones staying up through the night, struggling for their breath, or were they the ones at six years old, waking up unable to move or breathe and in a strange place after last remember seeing a car coming right at the car he was riding in.
This article originally appeared in Business Insider. Copyright 2015.
