Julie and Andy Kemp were on their way home from church with their eight-year-old son, Landon, when they were caught in a devastating car crash. Their vehicle was struck by an ambulance rushing back to its station. Sadly, Andy died at the scene, while Julie struggled to stay conscious. Emergency personnel arrived and managed to stabilize her, but they did not initially realize that Landon was still in the car. It wasn’t until they noticed one of his shoes at the scene that they discovered him, hidden in the backseat due to the severe damage to the vehicle.
After multiple efforts, medical staff were able to resuscitate Landon, who had been found unconscious and not breathing. He was then airlifted to the hospital, where he suffered two more cardiac arrests. The outlook for the young boy seemed grim, and his mother was told that his likelihood of survival was very low.
Doctors warned that even if he did pull through, he might not be able to lead a normal life. Instead, he could remain in a condition resembling that of an infant, trapped in the body of an eight-year-old.
In the two weeks after the accident, Julie faced a heartbreaking journey. As she buried her husband, she watched her son fight for his life. Landon had slipped into a coma, and hopes for his survival were fading. Then, against all odds, he opened his eyes. The medical staff hailed his recovery as a miracle, astonished to find that, despite the gravity of his condition, he had suffered no brain damage.
Now that Landon was awake, Julie felt unsure about how to tell him about his father’s death. She asked him if he knew what had happened, and Landon replied: “Yes, I saw him”. He went on to explain that he had also met a friend of his father’s who had died a month before his dad. Landon mentioned seeing that friend’s son as well. “We didn’t say anything, but we were all just standing there”, he recalled.
Julie was surprised when her son mentioned that he had seen her two other children while he was in his coma. At first, she struggled to understand his words, but then a memory came to her mind. Consider the obstacles Landon faced and the actual details of the video linked below. It is sure to reinforce your conviction.
Dan Haggerty, Who Played Grizzly Adams
Dan Haggerty, who gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of the kind mountain man with a striking beard and his bear friend Ben in the NBC television series and 1974 film “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams,” passed away on Friday in Burbank, California. His age was 73 years.
Terry Bomar, his manager and friend, stated that spinal cancer was the cause of death.
Dan Haggerty was creating a name for himself in Hollywood as an animal handler and stuntman before landing his famous part. When a producer requested him to appear in a few opening moments for a film about a woodsman and his bear, it was his big break. The plot, which is based on a novel by Charles Sellier Jr., centers on a man who flees to the woods after being wrongfully convicted of murder, becomes friends with the local wildlife, and takes in an abandoned bear.
Haggerty accepted to do the part, but he had one requirement: he had to appear in the whole film. Despite having a relatively low budget of $165,000, the film’s remake brought in close to $30 million at the box office. Because of this popularity, a television series was created, and in February 1977, Haggerty went back to playing the character of the wild and outdoorsy wilderness guardian.
The audience responded well to the show. It lukewarms the heart, as The New York Times’ John Leonard observed in his review. A large lump in the throat and a lot of communing with nature are experienced when a man and a bear hide out in a log cabin. Haggerty won a 1978 People’s Choice Award for being the most well-liked actor in a new series because of the series’ warm and sympathetic tone, which won over a lot of viewers.
The series also yielded two follow-ups: “Legend of the Wild,” which was broadcast on television in 1978 and eventually released in theaters in 1981, and “The Capture of Grizzly Adams,” a 1982 television film in which Adams ultimately exonerates himself of the false charge.
Born in Los Angeles on November 19, 1942, Daniel Francis Haggerty had a difficult upbringing. He had a turbulent childhood, breaking out of military school several times before coming home with his actor-father in Burbank when his parents divorced when he was three years old.
Haggerty was married twice in his personal life. When he was 17, he got married to Diane Rooker, but they later got divorced. In 2008, he lost his second wife, Samantha Hilton, in a horrific motorbike accident. His children, Don, Megan, Tracy, Dylan, and Cody, survive him.
In his debut motion picture, “Muscle Beach Party” (1964), Haggerty portrayed bodybuilder Biff. After that, he played supporting parts in motorcycle and wildlife movies. He was a hippie commune member in “Easy Rider.” He also played the role off-screen, living with a variety of wild creatures he had either tamed or rescued on a small ranch in Malibu Canyon.
His expertise with animals led to positions as an animal trainer and stuntman for television shows including “Daktari” and “Tarzan.” He kept taking on parts like “Where the North Wind Blows” (1974) and “The Adventures of Frontier Fremont” (1976) that highlighted his affinity for the natural world. His love of outdoor parts brought him roles evoking Grizzly Adams to movies like “Grizzly Mountain” (1997) and “Escape to Grizzly Mountain” (2000).
Haggerty had appearances in a number of horror movies later in his career, such as “Terror Night” (1987) and “Elves” (1989). He was involved in court in 1985 and was given a 90-day jail sentence for distributing cocaine to police officers who were undercover.
Tragic incidents also occurred in his life. Haggerty suffered third-degree burns to his arms when a diner carrying a burning drink unintentionally caught his renowned beard on fire in 1977 when he was dining. Despite being admitted to the hospital and supposed to stay for a month, he left after just ten days, claiming to have expertise of curing animals.
“The first couple of days I just lay in the dark room drinking water, like a wounded wolf trying to heal myself,” he said, reflecting on his injury, to People magazine.
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