In 1997, Landon Kemp was left in a coma after a devastating collision between his parents’ car and an ambulance. It was an event that changed the Kemp family’s lives forever. Sadly, Andy Kemp, Landon’s father, was killed immediately. Julie, Landon’s mother, was also badly injured, but survived. The car was so badly mangled that rescuers didn’t realize a third person was in the car, until they noticed Landon’s shoe in the wreckage.
Landon was only 8 years old. He was rushed from the scene of the accident, and was resuscitated twice by emergency responders,and a third time at the hospital. No one at the Carolinas Medical Center believed Landon Kemp had much hope to survive the accident, and if by some miracle he did, he would most likely be plagued by severe brain damage for the rest of his life.
Landon Whitley, 8 years old
The accident was so traumatic to the family, especially to Julie, who had become a widow and was fearing the loss of her son, too. It is unlikely that anyone considered what Landon might be experiencing in the hours following the tragedy, but Landon would later recount an amazing tale.
He says he left his body, and walked the streets of heaven, met Jesus, talked to angels.
He also saw his father.
Meanwhile, Julie Kemp struggled to understand the death of her husband, and prayed desperately that her son would survive. “I was very disappointed. Heartbroken,” said Julie. “And while I’m sitting at the funeral, I’m fussing at God. I don’t understand why this happened. I don’t understand why he didn’t send angels to protect us, but in the very next breath I’m praying as hard to him as I’ve ever prayed in my life for Landon to live.”
Andy Kemp
“He’s hooked up to all kinds of machines to keep him alive, and there are no signs. There’s nothing good or bad,” added Julie through tears. “They see nothing happening. I kept praying that he would open his eyes.”
It took 2 weeks for Landon Kemp to wake up, but when he finally did, doctors were amazed to discover that he had suffered no brain damage. It was a miraculous development for Julie, but then a heavy feeling of sadness overcame her. She still had to tell Landon his father had passed away.
Julie gently as Landon if he knew where his father was. Landon’s response shocked her:
“Yes, I know where he’s at. I saw him in heaven.”
Landon went on to explain who else he’d met in heaven: the two siblings he never got to know. Julie was stunned. She’d had two miscarriage before Landon’s birth, but had never told him about the two lost siblings.
Whitley recovered but is blind in his left eye. Julie Whitley has written a book, Faith Has Its Reasons, where she recounts that tragic day, the miraculous heavenly experiences her son had, and how the two of them are continuing to deal with the grief over losing Andy.
“I know I’m doing it for Jesus. I know that he’s real,” Landon told CBN. “I know that angels are there. I know that there’s a heaven. I’m not doing it for someone I don’t know or that I’ve never seen. I’ve seen Jesus. I know he’s there. He’s asked me to do this and this is what I’m doing.”
