The co-author of "The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven" is now suing the publisher for compensatory damage, two years after he admitted that he only made up the story to get attention.
Alex Malarkey, now 20, is suing Tyndale House for damages, including the profits earned from book sales, as well as punitive damages "which will exceed $50,000."
Additionally, he is seeking a permanent injunction against the publisher "to take all steps reasonably possible to disassociate Alex's name from the Book."
Malarkey, who is listed as the co-author of the book along with his father Kevin, disavowed the story in 2015. "I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible," he said at the time, according to the Baptist Press.
While the book lists both Malarkey and his father as the authors, the lawsuit, filed in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton, Illinois, contended that the book was solely written by his father based on Malarkey's two-month coma.
"Alex remembers absolutely nothing from the time he was in a coma. The core of the story is entirely false," the suit stated, according to The Guardian.
It went on to claim that Tyndale went ahead with the release and promotion of the book despite knowing about Malarkey's objections. It stated that Malarkey has refused to acknowledge that the contract with Tyndale is "in effect and binding," claiming that he was not permitted to read the contract "nor to review any accountings provided under the contract."
The lawsuit alleges that Tyndale "made millions of dollars" from book sales, but "paid Alex, a paralysed young man, nothing." It further noted that Malarkey currently lives on Social Security payments and is now on the "verge of being homeless."
In a statement released on April 12, Tyndale House insisted that it has paid all royalties due to Malarkey and that the book has been taken out of print since 2015. It further noted that the versions of the book that are available online are "from third party sellers."
Malarkey, who turned 20 on April 11, fell into a coma when he was aged six after a car accident in Ohio in 2004. When he woke up two months later, he was paralyzed from the neck down.
In the book, the author spoke about being taken by angels "through the gates of heaven" and meeting and talking to Jesus. The book reportedly sold one million copies before it was pulled by Tyndale House.
