Newsweek Magazine first published this story in December of 1993.
Chantel Lakey and her fiancé Dale were driving along the Pacific Coast Highway when Dale abruptly pulled the car over to the side of the road. The sun was beginning to set and he had spotted a trail that he knew had a spectacular view of the ocean.
The two young lovers managed to climb to the top of this trail through a dense forest that grew on a steep cliff overhanging the coast. After admiring the view they started the decent back down the cliff’s side to their car.
Dale spotted an animal trail that he felt would be easier on Chantel. But the pair soon found this was a mistake. For the path they were on quickly turned into a steep cliff covered in loose shale and rock. To compound their situation the sun set and it started to rain. The path they were on became even more slippery.
The two found they could not climb back up so they had no choice but to continue down. Dale walked in front so that he could turn around and help Chantel when needed. Tragically, the last time he turned his foot slipped and he fell off the cliff, to his death.
Chantel was now terrified. In shock and clutching the loose rock near her she was unable to move. Later she stated that she did not believe in a “higher being” but desperate she cried out to God for help.
What happened next she is firmly convinced saved her life. She saw a bright light and then a “gateway between heaven and earth” opened up. She looked around to see that Angels now surrounded her. She described them as a “wall of protection” that was holding her close.
Within minutes she realized that she was now looking up at the cliff from the roadside. “Somehow she had managed to descend” but she did not remember how.
When the recue team went to retrieve her fiancé’s body they found they could not go down the same trail Chantel had descended. They stated the path was impossible to climb down –even with all their combined experience and equipment.