It’s a story made for the movies- a young girl is stricken with a debilitating digestive condition that leaves her weak, ready to die, and her family devastated. Then, one day she falls 30 feet into a hollowed-out tree, needing hours of rescue. Yet not only is she rescued without major injury, but her digestive disorder is completely healed. There is no medical explanation; it’s a miracle.

The story was, in fact, made into a movie. Miracles from Heaven, featured Jennifer Garner as Christy Beam, mother to Annabel Beam, who experienced the amazing miracle, and was released in theaters in 2016. CBN’s Billy Hallowell reconnected with real-life Christy to discuss the 2011 event that changed her family forever. She shared that Annabel will be graduating from Hardin-Simmons University in Texas in May with a major in psychology and minor in sociology. Christy shared that Annabel hopes to be a child life specialist and work at Cook Children’s Hospital, where she was treated after her fall.

It’s miles away from that moment when 9-year-old Annabel turned to her mother and wished for death. “Mommy I just want to die. And I want to go to heaven and live with Jesus where there’s no more pain,” Christy, in a previous interview, recalled a worn-out Annabel telling her after four-and-a-half years of chronic health issues from pseudo obstruction motility disorder and  antral hypo motility disorder. “There was no cure. All they can do is give them medications to give a better quality of life and typically what happens is when they have a big flare up, which Annabel was constantly having, and anything can cause – a virus, a cold, anything – they go into hospital and have nothing to eat or fluids through anything other than an IV to let their intestines rest,” said Christy. It would only be one week later, December 30, 2011 when that miraculous fall would answer Christy’s prayers.

Annabel’s older sister, Abby, convinced Annabel to join her to climb a tree. It was then that Annabel fell through a cottonwood tree 30 feet down. While rescue teams attempted to reach her, they were worried Annabel might be paralyzed or worse from the fall. “All the firefighters, paramedics, everybody … they were saying, ‘Mom, we just want to prepare you. We’ve never had a child fall 30 feet and not suffer paralysis or broken bones,” Christy recalled to Hallowell. Yet, after her rescue, she told Christy something amazing. “She just plainly said to me the next day, ‘You know, mommy, I went to heaven when I was in that tree. And, so, she told me that she sat on Jesus’s lap, and she said, ‘I want to stay with you,’ and he said, ‘I know you do, but I have plans for you on earth that you cannot fulfill in heaven,’” Christy shared. Then Jesus made a promise to Annabel. “But when the firefighters get you out, Annabel, there will be nothing wrong with you.” The family would soon realize the truth of those words when, despite having been previously diagnosed by experts, Annabel’s illnesses were gone.

It’s a miracle that has received push back, even from other believers, Christy shared. She stated that the family has never declared that Annabel died, but they do believe she saw Jesus in some way. Christy addressed claims that she was “pimping out” her children for money or that she was committing blasphemy. She shared that she never wanted to hinder someone’s Christian walk, but rather to increase the faith of others. “There’s always hard times and dark days,” she said. “And then I remember this is such a little fish and you are such a big God. And I just trust you.”