Chris Worley’s debut book, “And I Was Delivered from the Lion’s Mouth: The Lauren Worley Story,” details his daughter Lauren’s journey from her December 2023 car accident through her recovery, which he and many others have described as a miracle.
Lauren and her then-boyfriend, Micah Underwood, were traveling in a vehicle when they were struck in a head-on collision. She was hospitalized with severe brain injuries and underwent numerous surgeries to help her recover.
Now, more than a year after what he describes as every parent’s worst nightmare, Worley said he felt compelled to finish the book.
“I was the one that just put all the updates” on social media “and I documented her journey the whole time. So, when she started healing, and I begged God to save her that night, when she started healing and He saved her, I just felt this overwhelming desire to finish the book and see it to its completion,” he said.
The 223-page book is told through Worley’s eyes. He tried to be as visual as possible to fully describe everything for the reader.
Worley said the book follows a chronological order from the accident through Lauren’s recovery.
“It’s an introduction to Lauren and then it goes over the night of the accident, the first 24 hours, the critical phases, and then each chapter is just a steady progression of Lauren’s progress. I talk about her steady progressions and milestones as they come across. There are a lot of key events in the book, a lot of community events, I did talk about all the local fundraisers,” he said.
Because there were so many, Worley said he placed a lot of emphasis on the community support and Lauren’s prayer warriors.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, to be honest with you. I’m really not sure if we’ve had anybody local get that much media attention, and just the county and surrounding counties completely supported my family,” he said.
In addition to giving God all the glory, Worley also gives high praise to the first responders, surgeons, nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals involved in helping his daughter.
“I believe that God was working through all of them. I was on the roadside that night and He spoke to me and He gave me this overwhelming sense of calm that night. No parent should see that or be in that experience with their child, but because I’d seen it and I saw the miracle unfold from the time it happened, I was the one that He chose to narrate this story, and that’s what I did,” he said.
Because of Lauren’s recovery—and the extent of it—Worley said he knows he and his family are blessed.
“You know, you had a lot of doctors along the way telling us that they’d [never] seen anything quite like it. So, for her to have a brain out frontal lobe injury and for her to be able to heal completely—it just don’t happen. I know I’m blessed,” he said.
Worley also noted the purpose of the book isn’t to make money, but to share the story with believers and nonbelievers.
“I think all your prayer warriors that have supported her, that have already bought the book—they loved the book and they’ve all reached out to me and said that it was a wonderful book. Then I think you got a lot of people that are non-believers that are going to read the book and they’re going to raise their eyebrow, or arch their eyebrow, and they’re going to say, ‘Wow. That really is a miracle,’” he said, adding, “God told the story, I just narrated it.”
He wants his book to touch, affect, and inspire as many people as possible. In talking to some who’ve read it, Worley said he’s been told it brought them closer to God and made them feel more spiritual.
“I think that’s wonderful, and I think that’s my purpose and that’s why I did it. This miracle, it changed me personally, it brought me closer to God. I seen this unbelievable event and I watched her heal when at every single turn they said she’d never do this again, but she did. Then when she did, the medical establishment has no explanation,” he said.
When Lauren started healing and began to comprehend everything, Worley said he told her she’s going to be known as the miracle girl for the rest of her life.
“‘People might not even remember your name, Lauren, but they’re going to remember that girl from Woolwine that should have died’” and instead was healed, “and this is a small town, and we do have that small-town feel, and people are not going to forget it,” he said.
Even more than two years after the accident, Worley said his daughter continues to heal.
“Do I think she’s 100 percent? No, but she’s 97. The three percent she’s got left to heal is some of her personality that I think” is because “she’s changed a little bit. Nothing you would notice, nothing that anybody that came up on the street would notice about her,” he said.
That remaining three percent, Worley said, is something only Lauren’s really close friends and family would notice.
Before the accident, Worley said Lauren was quiet and reserved. Now, she’s the life of the party and willing to talk to anyone.
“In a lot of ways, she’s changed for the better. I will say this: I think God is going to heal her back to the way He wants her to be. We’ve done explained to her and she knows she’s got a testimony and people’s going to want to hear it, so maybe him making her be more outspoken is what was needed,” he said. “I stopped asking why a really long time ago. I just say thank you now. I’m very humbled. I know that not all the storybooks end this way, and mine did and hers did, and it’s pretty amazing.”
Worley said the book’s title comes from 2 Timothy 4:17, a Bible verse Lauren had written in her journal months before her accident.
“She was delivered from the lion’s mouth. It was almost like a 17-year-old girl to have that Bible scripture in her journal months before her accident—if you think about it, it was like she knew she was destined to have this testimony, this amazing testimony,” he said.
Worley’s book is available on Amazon in hardback, paperback, and Kindle versions.
Copies can also be purchased at The Honey Pot on Main Street in Stuart. If there’s enough interest, Worley plans to bring more books to the store.
“Several other places have reached out to me and asked me if they could sell the book. There’s a bookstore in Ridgeway, there’s one in Floyd, so there’s several other people that have asked,” he said.
He also hired a marketing firm to upload the book to Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and other websites that sell books.
For more information, visit www.deliveredfromthelionsmouth.com.
