This afternoon, I had the pleasure of sitting down with an incredible young girl and her father to learn more about their amazing story of faith and survival.
A few weeks ago, I was talking to someone I know and somehow the topic of one of his friends and his daughter came up. With what very little he talked about, I instantly felt connected to the story and knew that it was one that was just waiting to be told. So I contacted the guy and asked if he and his daughter would mind sitting down with me to discuss the possibility of making a film, or writing a novel about her story. Little did I know how extraordinary the story actually was.
In a nutshell, earlier this year, this young sixteen-year-old almost died after a skateboarding accident that led to major brain surgery and very little chance of survival. By the grace of God, not only did she beat the odds and pull through, but she is doing incredibly well. In fact, if you were to see her walking down the street, you probably wouldn’t even know she was ever in an accident. Listening to what she and her family have gone through over this past year, as well as the story leading up to her accident, I was astounded by her determination and strength.
I am truly blessed to have acquired the rights to this young girl’s life story. I’ve never written or adapted a true story before, but hers is exactly the type of inspirational narrative that I love to tell, and I know working on this will be an amazing experience. Over the next few months, I will be doing a lot of research on the types of procedures that were done, the various steps in her recovery, as well as interviewing a lot of key players in order to get a well-rounded account of the events leading up to the accident and the aftermath. After I’ve collected everything I need (which also includes pictures, journals and any other types of correspondence that might help), I plan to write a novel that I hope to publish by this time next year, as well as a corresponding screenplay. The best part is, it all takes place close to home, so I’ll be able to use familiar places and landmarks to help flesh the story out.
Without a doubt, this remarkable young lady deserves to have her powerful and emotional story told and I am so excited to get started. I just hope and pray I can do it justice.
Chaos breeds Chaos 