Annabel's mother, Christy, refused to believe what she'd heard. "I remember thinking, 'That's not what she said,'" Christy recalled. "She doesn't know anything about giving up. She's a fighter."
Days later, Annabel said she fell 30 feet from a tree branch that cracked while she was sitting on it with her sister, Abbie. She claims that after bumping her head three times on the way down and falling into the hollowed-out base of the tree, she died and went to heaven.
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"It was really bright, and I sat on Jesus' lap and he told me, 'Whenever the firefighters get you out, there will be nothing wrong with you,'" Annabel recalled. "And I asked him if I could stay and he said, 'No, I have plans you need to fulfill on Earth that you cannot fulfill in heaven. A few days later, she told her family about her experience.
"She was very matter-of-fact: very 'This is what happened,' not at all animated, just, 'Here are the facts,'" Christy said. "And then she stopped talking, and looked out the window for the rest of the trip."
Now symptom-free, Annabel has gone from taking 10 daily medications to none.
She fell 30 feet head first, without any injuries or one bug bite," her mom said. "She came out of that tree hours later wet, muddy, and with scratches. And she's well."
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The tree, which recently toppled due to weather, remains in the Beam family front yard, beside a cross Kevin carved after the accident.
"I'm glad that I didn't ever try and cut it down," he said. "I do think that this tree was actively involved in a miracle."
His wife - who turned Annabel's story into the book "Miracles from Heaven" - agreed. "It had a purpose," Christy said. "It was a vessel."
Annabel, who continues to climb trees, feels fortunate. "Most kids aren't ever healed," she said. "And so anytime I see [the tree], I'm just grateful, and happy