Chloe Clark, a North Alabama 10-year-old, almost died last month after a sheet of wood decking fell from a roof and hit her in the face.
On Saturday, some of her Chattanooga relatives and friends are planning a gospel singing to raise money to help her family pay her medical bills, which total at least $250,000.
The New Haven Baptist Church, at 1058 Graysville Road, will host the Heritage Quartet and the Hullender Family on Saturday at 6 p.m. in a benefit singing, with proceeds going to help the Clark family.
Little Chloe's story has attracted attention from tens of thousands of worldwide well-wishers and prayer partners on social media.
Her father, Jared Clark, said the accident happened this way:
On Jan. 11, Jared was hard at work building a new home for his wife and four children near Huntsville, Ala. He was working on the roof, and his kids were playing in the yard below.
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Jared had warned the children to stay away from the side of the house where he was working. But in their exuberance, the kids lost track of themselves and Chloe ran around the house. Incredibly, it was at the precise moment a section of decking slipped from her father's hands and fell off the roof.
The edge of the 48-pound board landed on the bridge of Chloe's nose. Beyond her black eyes and the cuts, the impact caused internal head injuries that introduced bacteria into her spinal cord, causing a near-fatal case of meningitis. She also suffered thrombosis in two brain arteries.
About 24 hours after the accident, Chloe's condition had improved to the point she was about to be sent home. Then, suddenly, she began to have intense pain in the back of her head, and fell into a coma.
At least twice in the space of two weeks, doctors at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville thought they were about to lose her. At one point, they told her parents a best-case scenario was that Chloe would survive, but with severe brain damage, her father says.
It was a shocking turn of events for a family that had already gone through its share of hardships. In 2015, Jared and his family had to move out of a mold-infested house that was making them ill. After insurance declined to pay for repairs, they were thrown into bankruptcy. Then, in 2017, Jared lost his job in telecommunications.
If that double-whammy wasn't bad enough, the family's health insurance had lapsed just before Chloe's accident.
Before the accident, Chloe was a outgoing little girl who could mix concrete from 80-pound bags on her own, her dad says. She also wanted to become a Christian missionary to Mexico.
At one point in the ER just after the accident, she told her father, "Daddy, I'm ready to meet Jesus. Tell Mommy I love her If I don't make it, I'm ready. I want everybody to know I love them."
While Chloe was being treated at Vanderbilt Hospital, a website called prayforchloe.com and a family Facebook page began to attract attention around the world.
When Chloe was at one of her low ebbs at Vanderbilt, her father reached out online to request prayers. At one point, he said, there were tens of thousands of people praying for Chloe. Then, within days, her condition improved dramatically.
"I asked people on Facebook to pray, and we had thousands of people respond," Jared said. " When we got the scans back everything was gone. There's no other way to explain [Chloe's turnaround], but that it was God's work.
"It's clear this wasn't a freak accident. This is something God knew was going to happen. We saw people witness and offer testimony and we are all now praising God."
To be closer to Chloe's doctors, the Clarks moved to Spring Hill, Tenn., about 30 miles south of Nashville, where they are still living at a friend's home.
Jared says he has yet to get a full accounting of the medical bills, but he was told at one point the cost stood at $250,000. They have since secured health insurance for Chloe, but are stuck with the debt incurred before her coverage kicked in.
The good news is that Chloe is heading toward a full recovery, her doctors say. She may have a little scar on her nose, but that's about it. There is no lingering damage to her brain.
Jared says the family wants to thank Chloe's well-wishers, including those who have offered financial support to the beleaguered family. There are links on the prayforchloe.com web site to a gofundme.com page, which has already raised more than $37,000.
Two of Jared's aunts attend New Haven Baptist Church here, which is set to host the benefit gospel singing Saturday.
"I just want to tell people, thanks for all the prayers,'" Jared said in an interview this week. "The power of prayer made all the difference in the world."
To suggest a human interest story contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645.