As eviction drew near, mother and quadriplegic son uproot to new Bellefontaine home

Less than two days before their court-ordered eviction, Beth Malarkey and her quadriplegic son, Alex, moved from his boyhood home in Huntsville, Logan County into a new home in nearby Bellefontaine, resolving one of their many recent battles.

"The other day I got upset, and I was crying. But you move on," said Beth, who has cared for her 24-year-old son Alex since a 2004 car crash that severed his spinal cord just below his brain stem when he was 6.

Earlier this month, Judge Ann E. Beck, of Bellefontaine Municipal Court, ruled that by midnight Sunday, Beth had to be out of the home, legally owned by Kevin Malarkey, her ex-husband and Alex's father.

More on the Malarkey family:Logan County quadriplegic facing eviction clings to faith and his mother for survival

Their new home in Bellefontaine, which they moved into on Friday, was retrofitted by the Logan County Department of Developmental Disabilities. It has ramps, an overhead lift to raise and lower Alex to and from his wheelchair and a bed and special fixtures to make care easier.

But it's not home, Alex said.

"It's doable, but far from ideal," he told The Dispatch in a phone interview Thursday.

Kevin Malarkey, who has declined to speak directly to The Dispatch, has been trying to sell the home for more than a year, stating through his attorney that he needs the proceeds of the sale to pay bills and provide for Alex's siblings, who live with him in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Kevin was driving the family's Honda Civic 18 years ago while on the phone with Beth when he turned into the path of an oncoming car. The broadside impact ejected Kevin, who was not seriously hurt. Alex was critically injured and flown by medical helicopter to what was then Columbus Children's Hospital, where he spent months recuperating.

While Kevin maintains that the home's proceeds are needed, Beth and Alex have said that the eviction has been driven by spite and retaliation following a disavowal of the book that father and son co-authored about the crash and recovery.

"The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven: A True Story," published in 2010, sold more than 1 million copies. But near the height of its popularity, Alex, then 12, alleged that vivid depictions in the book about visiting angels and returning from heaven attributed to him were untrue. Sales quickly dried up as copies were pulled from bookstores.

Kevin's attorney, James Wiggin III, has said the eviction proceeding was forced on him.

"Beth has repeatedly agreed to move in court proceedings where she was represented by counsel. Her refusal to abide by those agreements gave rise to Kevin's actions," Wiggin said in an email.

Litigation over the book continues. Alex has sued Tyndale House, claiming the Chicago-based publisher of religious books lacked Alex's legal consent and misused his name and likeness to profit from his private life. Efforts to reach a settlement are ongoing, said P. Scott Miller, Alex's Texas-based attorney.

In the meantime, Beth spent the past week hauling boxes from their 2,700-square-foot rural home in Huntsville, just north of Bellefontaine, saying goodbye to memories and finding chalk drawings and chewing gum under tables and chairs.

"Did you do that?" she called out to Alex during a phone interview as he sat nearby with his dog Lucy, a constant fixture in his lap.

Alex's family doctor has warned that significant stress can have adverse reactions on Alex, who uses a mechanical ventilator implanted in his trachea. In halting and hushed sentences, Alex called the ordeal of moving "very stressful, everything about it. Moving is difficult for anybody. For me, with all the extra stuff, it's very different."

Both he and Beth said they hope that the Bellefontaine house will be temporary until they have funds to find something better. Finding the right place "is beyond what is on the surface," Beth said. "It's not whether you can just function in it."

By Monday afternoon, a GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $100,000 for Beth's and Alex's needs.

Beth says her singular goal is to protect her son.

"He has a voice and he has legal rights. The one thing he lacks is a body that functions on its own."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Quadriplegic son, mom find new home in Logan County prior to eviction