Willard Richards Miraculously Preserved from Drowning as a Child

Willard Richards (1804-1854), who would become a prominent apostle, experienced several remarkable preservations from death in early childhood. As documented in his biographical sketch: 'Willard fell from the scaffold of a barn on his head, when he was four years old, and received a severe hurt. Soon after he fell into a stream of water, and would have been drowned had not his brother Levi providentially rescued him.' The fall from a barn scaffold onto his head could easily have been fatal, yet he survived with only a severe hurt. Even more remarkably, shortly after this accident, he fell into a stream. Had his brother Levi not been providentially present and able to rescue him immediately, Willard would have drowned. These two near-death experiences in quick succession demonstrated divine protection of this future apostle even as a small child.