Colton Burpo
A real-life boy with who was sick with appendicitis at the age of three. Although typically, appendicitis isn't fatal, it can certainly be fatal to a child, especially if untreated. For Colton, this downward spiral of illness continued until he was forced into emergency surgery to remove his appendix. During surgery he died on the table. When he came back, as he continued growing older, he began speaking his mind—and his parents were amazed. He told them he had met God and their dead family members in heaven.
Todd Burpo
The co-author of this book and the father of Colton. At first, he was just relieved that the boy had lived, and amazed and thankful that the doctors were able to revive Colton. But then Colton started talking more, and he was so exceptionally wise and enlightened that Todd couldn't believe it. When Colton told Todd that he had met their dead family members together with Jesus in heaven, Todd decided to publish the story with Lynn Vincent's help. They also toured to churches and shared their story.
Sonja Burpo
Colton's mother whose religious views were radically changed when her son claimed to have met his "sister" in heaven. That is really spooky to her because no one ever told the son that they had miscarried their baby daughter before he was born. He also said he met one of his ancestors who died 30 years before he was born. Sonja was shocked by this.
