As it turns out, Alex Malarkey never went to heaven after all.The teen is admitting that although he claimed he visited heaven after getting paralyzed in a bad car crash when he was six, he actually made the whole thing up.
The big problem with that is Alex and his father Kevin Malarkey penned a best-selling book called The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven based on that story. In it, a 6-year-old boy who gets injured in a bad car crash goes to heaven and sees angels.
Alex was paralyzed in his car accident and spent two months in a coma, according to NPR. Although it didn't look like he would pull through, he woke up, saying he had been to heaven.
But, in an open letter to retailer LifeWay, Alex wrote, "I did not die. I did not go to Heaven. 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," he continued. "People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible. Those who market these materials must be called to repent and hold the Bible as enough."
Alex's mom also addressed the book last spring, in a blog post called "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven...not quite." In it, she said her son's "name and identity were being used against his wishes on something that he is opposed to and knows to be in error according to the Bible."
Following Alex's confession, the book's publisher Tyndale House confirmed to the Washington Post that it would be taking the book and all ancillary products out of print."
"We are saddened to learn that Alex Malarkey, co-author of 'The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven,' is now saying that he made up the story of dying and going to heaven," the company said in a statement. Given this information, we are taking the book out of print."
The book has reportedly sold over 1 million copies.