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4801
qualitative
book
Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent, Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, Thomas Nelson, 2010
Heaven Is for Real - Colton Burpo - Copyright 2010
2003
March 5, 2003
2010
3
M
Three-year-old Colton Burpo experienced a ruptured appendix that went undiagnosed for five days, leading to life-threatening peritonitis. During emergency surgery on March 5, 2003, at Great Plains Regional Medical Center in North Platte, Nebraska, Colton claims to have visited heaven. His parents, Todd (a pastor) and Sonja, had been told by medical staff not to expect him to survive due to the extensive infection.
During the surgery, Colton reported leaving his body and observing his parents in separate locations within the hospital. He accurately described his father praying alone in a small room and his mother simultaneously praying and talking on the phone in a different room - details his parents had not shared with him. Colton said he sat on Jesus' lap, sang songs with angels, and met John the Baptist. He described Jesus as having brown hair, a beard, beautiful eyes, markers (wounds) on his hands and feet, wearing white with a purple sash, and having a crown with a pink diamond. Most remarkably, Colton met two deceased family members he had never been told about. He encountered his great-grandfather "Pop" (Lawrence Barber), who had died in 1975, decades before Colton was born. Colton later identified Pop from an old photograph from 1943 that he had never seen, noting that nobody is old in heaven. He also met his sister who had been miscarried, information his parents had deliberately kept from him. The unnamed sister told him she had died in their mother's tummy and couldn't wait for them to get to heaven. Colton's recovery was considered miraculous by medical staff. Over the following months and years, he continued sharing details about heaven, including descriptions of God's throne room, the Holy Spirit, rainbow colors, animals, and that it never gets dark because God and Jesus light heaven. His experience profoundly impacted his family and church community, with his accurate knowledge of undisclosed family information serving as powerful validation.
3
Hospital
7
15
37
Moderate Evidence
15
Emergency surgery under deep general anesthesia for ruptured appendix with peritonitis. Multiple surgeries required, extensive medical documentation.
Multiple specific veridical observations: accurately described parents' separate locations and activities during surgery, identified deceased great-grandfather from old photo never seen before, knew about miscarried sister never disclosed to him.
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7/30/2025
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