Alex Malarkey, who claimed in the best-selling book, “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven” that he visited heaven and saw angels while in a coma, has recanted his story.

In an open letter published on the website of the Christian book retailer LifeWay, Malarkey wrote, "I did not die. I did not go to Heaven." The boy claims he made the heaven claims to get attention.

NPR confirmed with the book's publisher, Tyndale House, that it was taking the book and related products out of circulation.

The book was labeled a “spiritual memoir” and told how the then 6-year-old boy visited heaven after he was in a car wreck that paralyzed him and left him in a coma for two months.

The boy and his father were co-authors for the book. The mother has spoken out against the book online since last year. The boy, now a teenager, decided it was time to set the record straight.

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo