1997 was a year that would forever change Julie Kemp. One Sunday driving home from church Julie, her husband Andy, and her then eight year old son Landon were involved in a car crash. The crash killed Any instantly as well as Landon, but emergency crews were able to revive him. Once in the hospital Landon died two more times, but each time medical professionals were able to resuscitate him. The doctors told Julie that it was possible Landon would live, but the odds were very slim at best. There was very little chance of his survival. And then if he were to somehow live he would not be the same little boy that she knew. Landon would be more like an 8 year old baby due to the extreme brain damage he sustained. Not willing to give up, Julie pushed for the doctors to continue to work with Landon. Having just lost her husband, she was not willing to give up her little boy on the same day. Julie would tell reporters she just felt desperate and would do anything to cling to her son. She did not care what state her boy would be in, she just wanted to keep him alive.
With Landon’s life being supported by all sorts of machines and while in a coma, Julie prayed that her son would somehow survive against all odds. She said she would pray constantly for some sort of a sign of life and that he would just open his eyes. Two weeks later that is exactly what happened. Landon woke up, and to everyone’s astonishment he had no brain damage. Ecstatic that her son was alive and seemingly well, Julie was worried about how to break the news about his father. With all of the pain that he had to go through she just wanted all the hurt to end and dreaded having to tell him about his father. Finally she asked “Do you know where your dad is?” Landon surprisingly replied that he did. He told his mother that he saw his dad, Andy, in heaven. He also shocked her and said that he saw her “other two kids.” Julie had two miscarriages before Landon, but never shared that with him. She could not figure out how he knew, much less how he could have seen them.
Landon explained he did not know how he knew they were his siblings, he just did. “I guess you know your own or who everyone is,” Landon told his mom. He continued to describe how he saw other people he knew who had passed away. He described a good friend of his father’s who had died less than a month before also in a car crash. Landon then described the man’s son who had died several years earlier in a four wheeler accident. Landon said they were all standing around, no one was talking, but they all just stood there and looked at one another. Even with no communication, Landon knew who each person was. This was a very profound experience for Landon. He said he knows that Jesus, the angels, and heaven are all real. His life and his work now revolve around that knowledge. “I know I’m doing it for Jesus,” Landon said. “He asked me to do this and this is what I’m doing.”
