It was a touching story about a boy who survived a horrific car accident and wrote about how he claims he saw Heaven when he did. Now, he's coming clean saying the whole thing was made up. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
Alex Malarkey is the brave little boy who says he went to Heaven and back after a car accident left him paralyzed at age six.
He then claimed, "The car hit us, I slammed into my seat belt, daddy flew out of the car and the angels caught him."
Alex and his father, Kevin, wrote the bestselling book The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, but now, a shocking development. The boy says it was all a lie!
"I did not die. I did not go to heaven," Alex confessed in an open letter to a religious website. "I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention."
Prominent Baptist Pastor John MacArthur is a syndicated radio host. He told INSIDE EDITION, "I knew it was a lie when it was written. I read through the Malarkey book, it was obvious to me that it has been fabricated."
The book, which is No. 5 on Amazon's Children's Inspirational List, is being taken out of print and removed from all book stores by it's publisher.
Alex's dad has not commented, but his ex-wife, Beth, who was seen pushing their son in a wheelchair while out for a jog, confirmed the story wasn't true in a radio interview.
She said, "Individuals have taken bits and parts of words that may have been said, or not said, twisted, embellished, and then took his name and literally put it on the cover of a book and without my knowledge and without his knowledge."
Alex's book should not be confused with another similar-themed bestseller, Heaven Is For Real, which was made into a movie starring Greg Kinnear, about the near-death experience of little Colton Burpo.
Colton was just four when he was rushed to the hospital with a ruptured appendix, as surgeons fought to save his life, he says he left his body and went to Heaven.
He spoke with INSIDE EDITION’s Megan Alexander last April, who asked, "What was it like?"
"Heaven is such an amazing place. There are people, angels, animals,” he replied.
In Alex’s case, the car accident in 2004 left him a quadriplegic.
Pastor MacArthur says he's not surprised that The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven is admitting it's a trip he never made.
He said, "I think he was taken advantage of, greatly."
