Tulsan Shares Story Of Survival

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- A Tulsa man is sharing his story of surviving tragedy.  When Chris Keith was a child, his father killed his mother and his brother and shot Chris in the back of the head before turning the gun on himself.  It was a murder suicide that shook Tulsa's core and then left it with a ray of hope. 

Murder suicides were rare back in 1985, so it made headlines on October 1^st when Ted Keith strangled his wife Deborah, shot his two sons, Michael and Chris and then turned the gun on himself.  A worried relative discovered the bodies and paramedics declared everyone dead, but then, five-year-old Christopher shocked them.  He was alive, a miracle among the madness.

"My grandpa was talking to the surgeon before surgery and he said, ‘I don't know what to do, he shouldn't believe alive,' so he didn't know. They said a prayer and he went in," said Chris Keith.

Against all odds, Keith survived and has no memory of crime.  His grandparents raised him and waited until he was old enough, 12, to tell him the truth about that terrible night.  He still carries the scars today.

"It went in here and it shattered, I don't know that much about bullets. It came out. I had a CT scan recently and there are still fragments of it throughout here," said Chris Keith.

He says had his grandparents not raised him in church, his life would've taken a different path.  But, rather than being consumed by demons of his past, he is filled with hope for the future.

Keith is married and has a son of his own, five-year-old Dylan.

"It may sound corny, but, there's always a bright shiny day that comes after the rain.  It's always better.  There's always something else," said Chris Keith.

Keith is sharing his story through Upward Bound Ministries, created by Jeff Moody.  The idea is to spread a message of hope.

"Our desire and our goal is to share the hope we believe comes from trusting in God's plan," said Jeff Moody with Upward Bound Ministries.

Keith says if he can reach just one person, he will be fulfilling what he believes is part of God's purpose in sparing his life.  He will share his story of survival on Wednesday, June 24th at Cedar Ridge Christian Church in Broken Arrow as part of a free concert.