"Riley, Run!": God’s Work Through Near-Death Experience

Riley Kehoe was 10 years old when she and her family ran for their lives to escape the massive Thailand tsunami of 2004. The experience shaped Riley's life, leading her to become passionate about courageously living her faith in Jesus and helping others do the same.

On this episode of GPS: God. People. Stories., hear how Riley has demonstrated bold faith, perseverance, and a desire to help people encounter the love and presence of Jesus Christ.

Connect with us through email at gps@billygraham.org or on Facebook at Billy Graham Radio. 

If you’d like to know more about beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ, or deepening the faith you already have, visit FindPeacewithGod.net.

If you’d like to pray with someone, call our Billy Graham 24/7 Prayer Line at 855-255-7729. 

Transcript

Riley Kehoe:
[00:00:00] I look behind, and I just watch a tsunami just destroy buildings, and people, and just everything in its path. And it got to this point where the tsunami wave was less than a car’s distance from me. And in that moment, I just felt so much fear. And my dad was like, Riley, run!

Jim Kirkland:
[00:00:19] Riley Kehoe was 10 years old when she and her family had to run for the their lives during the massive Thailand tsunami of 2004. She’s going to share the story of her narrow escape from death on this episode of GPS: God. People. Stories. It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. I’m Jim Kirkland. God used Riley’s experience to build in her a courageous faith something that Billy Graham says we all need. 

Billy Graham:
[00:00:48] The effective Christians throughout all of history have been men and women of great, personal courage and discipline. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:00:56] You’ll hear more from Billy Graham about having a bold faith in Jesus Christ a little later in this episode. You can also discover more about it at our website any time. Go to FindPeacewithGod.net. That’s FindPeacewithGod.net. And if you didn’t get a chance to jot it down, we always have that link in our show notes. 

Music and Audio Tag:
[00:01:16]

Jim Kirkland:
[00:01:22] Riley Kehoe grew up on a small farm in New Zealand. She made the decision to surrender her life to Jesus Christ when she was only 5 years old. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:01:31] I had the gift of growing up with parents that just loved the Lord. And watching my parents just the way they loved each other, the way they loved Jesus, it just made Jesus seem so attractive. And also, I wanted to get to know Him. I wanted to know this thing that my parents like put their whole life around. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:01:51] Riley was so eager to know Jesus that she didn’t ask Him to changer her life just once, she gave her life to Jesus four Sundays in a row. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:02:00] Finally on the fourth Sunday, the Kid’s pastor tells my mom like, hey, your daughter just keeps giving her life to Jesus. And so, my mom takes me aside and like asks me. Hey, you know you only need to do this like once you have made this commitment in your heart. She was like why do you keep running up to the front giving your life to Jesus. And I turned to her and put my hands on my hips. And I tell her I want Jesus to know I’m serious. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:02:29] Riley has felt that way about her faith ever since. Constantly tell others about Jesus. She even told her dolls about him. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:02:37] I’d come home from church, sit them in little chairs, and preach little sermons that I had written down on a napkin. And then afterwards, I would do an altar call and raise all of their hands up in the air and be like got 100% conversion rate every week. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:02:51] Life on her family’s farm in New Zealand was good for Riley. She spent her days running around with chickens and goats, riding horses, and playing with her two younger sisters. Riley says God used her childhood to grow her faith. But during one of her family’s Christmas vacations, tragedy struck her idyllic young life. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:03:11] My grandfather, he would spend half the year in Italy and half the year in Thailand. And we had been to Thailand several Christmas holidays. Um, on this particular Christmas holiday when I was 10, we went to go visit my grandfather. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:03:29] Before connecting with her grandfather, Riley and her family traveled to do some mission work. They spent a few weeks working at an orphanage that rescued children from sex trafficking. From there, they headed on to the planned family vacation. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:03:43] My grandfather had actually booked us a vacation to one of the islands off the coast of Thailand. A few days before Christmas, we jump on a boat and go out to this island. And it was beautiful. Like palm trees everywhere. I remember the water was like so clear I could see fish swimming around everywhere. And the boat pulls into the shore. And I remember seeing my grandfather and my mom’s whole extended side of the family. And so, we spent a few days there just like vacationing. And then the day after Christmas, that’s when everything changed. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:04:17] On December 26th, 2004, Riley woke up to her bed shaking. 

Riley Kehoe: 
[00:04:23] As a 10 year old little girl, I’m so confused. I don’t really know what’s going on. I remember thinking my sister must be like underneath the bed pulling a prank on me. So, I jump out of the bed and look under, and she’s not there. And the whole ground is shaking. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:04:35] Riley didn’t know she was experiencing a 9.1 magnitude earthquake. She rushed down the hall to her parent’s room. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:04:45] I’m like, Mom! Dad! What’s going on? And my mom looks at me. Honey, it’s an earthquake. Don’t worry. And the moment she said that the earthquake stopped. I remember looking around and things had fallen off the wall. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:04:57] After everyone’s nerves had settled, the family moved back into vacation mode. They went to breakfast and explored Egg Island for about an hour. Then, Riley’s dad told them to head back to the hotel so he could get ready to go rock climbing. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:05:13] My sister’s and I follow my dad. We’re walking back. And the island is very small. Like it takes two minutes to walk from one side to the other. And the way the island is structured is it’s flat in the middle palm trees everywhere and two big cliffs on either side. And so, we’re walking back. And all of a sudden, I notice something really eerie. There was so many wild animals on this island: monkeys, wild dogs, birds. Like just tons of wildlife. And they were noisy. Like you could just hear the sound of animals in the background. And all of a sudden, all of the animals went silent. I remember looking, and there was like a wild dog that yelped and howled and ran into the bush. And then, birds start flying up in the air and flying away. And monkeys start climbing up the cliffs. And the only thing you could hear is now human sounds. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:06:03] Riley, her dad, and sisters were almost back to their hotel room in the middle of the island when they heard people screaming at the top of their lungs. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:06:13] You can see the beach through the palm trees. And all of the water had left. 
It had left so quickly that there were fish flopping around everywhere. People that were snorkeling are now stuck on the reef. Boats are now in the sand. And you see in the distance is this thin, white line. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:06:29] Riley turned to her dad and asked where’s mom? 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:06:33] Mom had been on the room in the reception. She runs to where we had been building sand castles. And then, asked the Lord, where are my children? Like doesn’t know where we are in that moment. People are running and banging into each other. Banging into my mom. And then, my mom just hears the word “flee” in her  head. And so, she just decides to turn around and leave the place of the sand castles and start running back to our room. My mom is like this bold, confident woman. Everybody is seeing her run towards us. And she just had fear in her eyes. It was that moment that I knew. I was like I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know something’s wrong. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:07:08] What was wrong was that a giant tsunami wave was forming. It rose to over 50’ high. By the time her mom joined the rest of the family, the tsunami was just a few hundred feet from them. They took off running to the other side of the island. It only took about 30 seconds, and they made every one of those seconds count. But Riley saw other vacationers who didn’t escape. A woman sitting by the pool with her baby frozen in fear. A man in a boat. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:07:38] I knew that my life was like hanging on by a thread. And it was watching this man in a boat and the tsunami just absolutely consumed him. And I just watched this man pass away in front of my own eyes and just thinking, Lord, I need you. I could feel in me like this is life or death. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:07:57] Just the day before, Riley and her family had accidentally discovered a path to the top of one of the cliffs. That path was now their lifeline. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:08:08] My mom looked at me. She was like Riley, we have to find that path. And so, we start running up that path that we had found the day before. And it got to this point, my dad was holding one sister. My mom is holding the other sister. And I’m running as fast as I can behind them. I remember turning around and wishing I never had because here is this powerful force of a tsunami that’s shaking the ground that we’re standing on. I look behind. And I just watch the tsunami just destroy buildings, and people, and just everything in its path. And it got to this point where the tsunami wave was less than a car’s distance from me. And I remember my – in that moment, I just felt so much fear. And my dad was like, Riley, run! 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:08:52] And that’s what she did. Riley focused on her father’s voice and started running as fast as she could up that cliff. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:09:00] And truly by the grace of God, we got up high enough that the tsunami wave didn’t touch us. Me being alive was just mere – the difference between mere seconds. And if we had not run up that path at that exact moment, I truly would not be alive today. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:09:16] On a big hill at the highest point of the cliff, Riley sank to her knees and prayed. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:09:22] Here I am as this 10 year old little girl as death and destruction are just happening all around me, I just felt this like peace. It almost felt like somebody wrapped this warm blanket around me. And it was just this peace that transcends all understanding just met me in the middle of so much devastation. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:09:42] A few other people were on the cliff with Riley’s family, but none of them were members of her extended family. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:09:48] I didn’t know where my grandfather was. Where my cousins, my aunties, my uncles. I was just – had assumed the worst looking down and seeing what the wave had done to this island. And so, there was my family, the five of us. And there was this other family that we had met prior. The four of them. And there was one man who was a chef at the resort. And we kind of all just like huddled together for the next six hours because there were three tsunami waves that struck our island that day. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:10:19] The group found a radio. So, they were able to hear updates from the Thai government. Finally, the word came. There were no more tsunamis, and it was safe to return to ground level. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:10: 29] When we walked back down the path which was now pretty hard to walk down because the wave had kind of like destroyed it. It was pretty dangerous. I remember just seeing just horrible, horrible sights of people missing limbs and bodies. Just heartbreaking the absolute devastation that the tsunami had caused. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:10:49] Only a few building were still standing on the entire island. And miraculously, one of those buildings was the apartment building where Riley and her family were staying. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:10:59] We were walking towards our room. My mom was shouting out the names of her family members. And we were trying to find them. And it was kind of like a ghost town. Like people were just so disassociated. It was like pure chaos. And we couldn’t find my family. We tried looking for an hour … or even longer. And we looked all around. And we couldn’t find them anywhere. And so, I just remember thinking we’ve lost all of them. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:11:287] The reality of what they had just been through was beginning to sink in. They were devastated. And all of them fell asleep from exhaustion. Then in the middle of the night, they were awakened by a man pounding on their door yelling that another tsunami was coming. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:11:46] And I just remember leaping out of bed. Again, the adrenaline is rushing through my body. And my dad, he was like packing like blankets and water. And he was just like so surprisingly like wise in the midst of this moment that we had to be as quick as possible. And so, we follow this Thai man. What a hero. Had gone down to ground level to try to find anyone that was potentially sleeping or like was on ground level. And we follow him. And he guides us through the forest. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:12:18] In the pitch black darkness of the night, this Thai man led Riley’s family to safety going up another pathway on the other side of the island. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:12:27] He takes us to this big grass patch on top of the cliff. And there is like hundreds of survivors. And he turns to us. He just like saluted us and then walked away. And here’s this man like who had risked his life. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:12:46] But it turned out that there wasn’t another tsunami. The false alarm had been sounded because of how quickly the ocean’s high tide was coming back in. Everyone  who had been evacuated to this high ground was safe. And then, more good news. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:13:00] We look over and there is every single member of my family. And we hear them shouting our names. And I mean, it makes me so emotional. But we just run over to them and hug them and just like this massive embrace. And I mean, the odds of every single one of them surviving, that’s just God. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:13:26] Riley’s entire family slept on the hill that night. The next day, a rescue boat arrived to pick up everyone and take them back to the hotel. Riley was thinking she’d be back home in New Zealand soon, but her parents had other plans. They decided to stay for a few days to help local residents begin to clean up from the tsunami. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:13:46] My parents made this surprisingly bold and also risky decision to keep our family there. And so, my extended family jumped on the boat, and they headed home back to America. But the five of us, my sisters, and my parents, stayed on this island. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:14:02] When they did return home, Riley was a different person. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:14:06] My life was forever changed after living through something like that. So, we flew back to New Zealand. And thankfully, the first like week or two, we didn’t go back to school. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:14:17] About six months after returning to school, Riley’s parents did something that surprised her. They enrolled her and her sister in Beach Lifeguard Training. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:14:27] And mind you, I, at this point, terrified of the ocean. I don’t want to go anywhere close to the ocean. I’m like don’t want to go to a beach. Take me as far away from the ocean, this force, that I had seen kill hundreds of people. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:14:43] She couldn’t see it at the time, but Riley’s parents were teaching a life lesson to her and her sisters. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:14:49] They enrolled me, my sisters and I, into Beach Lifeguard Training because they wanted to teach us that the more you face your fears, the less power fear has over you. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:14:48] That idea was put to the test the night before her first day of training. She suffered a nightmare because the upcoming swim lesson had triggered her PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:15:10] I woke up. My hair’s a mess. I’m so nervous. I can’t believe my parents are forcing me to do this. And my dad sees me in distress and gets down on his knees and puts his hands on my shoulders. He’s like, Riley, you are fighting a battle between courage and fear. And all you need is a little more courage. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:15:27] Often that summer, Riley had to battle with fear that was within her. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:15:31] Some days, I didn’t want to go to training. And some days, I didn’t want to put my feet on the sand. And I would be out swimming in the ocean, and all of a sudden, I would get freaked out and swim back to shore. But I just remember being like, Riley, let’s make more days that courage wins than fear wins. And eventually, the more and more I faced my fears, the more and more I like did the opposite of what I wanted to do. I was able to be in the ocean more and be more confident in the very place that I was terrified of. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:16:04] As Riley’s confidence increased, so did her faith. And she found herself wanting to live it out, especially at school. She would tell classmates about Jesus. And she’d write encouraging notes to other girls who were going through tough times. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:16:17] I had asked the Lord, God, what does this person need to know and would write them letters. Put it in their backpacks and write it from your secret angel. And my parents, growing up, would always say this saying to us. They’d be like be a secret ninja for Jesus. And it was just like go do wonderful acts of love but get no recognition for it. And so, I tried to do that as much as possible. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:16:48] Not everyone appreciated what she was doing though. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:16:46] But I just remember being like I know the gift of life and how precious life is. And I’m like telling you something that I know is going to change your life. Like the gospel is the greatest gift that any of us can receive. It’s like you’re accessing a million dollar bank account that you didn’t even know you had access to. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:17:09] There was one group of cool girls, in particular, who gave Riley a hard time for sharing her faith, but she didn’t let that stop her. In fact, after she read in the Bible about blessing your enemies, Riley decided to write in her journal the words “Lord, bless blank”. Then, she wrote the name of and prayed for the girls who were bullying her. That journal entry was dated October 27. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:17:35] Four years later on October 27th, after I prayed this prayer in my journal, a blessing, they ended up coming to church and giving their life to Jesus. And it was just so cool to see what happens when we – because fear takes form in so many different ways. And fear does not stop death. It stops life. And for me, like I had to face a fear of man. And what happens when we lay down that fear and let the fear of God be greater? I look back and see the miracles of people’s lives changed for eternity. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:18:09] As Riley learned to lay down her fears and trust the Lord more and more, she was about to find herself confronting a fear of the ocean one more time. It happened on a stormy day when she was 21. She had gone out to spend some time on the beach when she heard someone yelling for help. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:18;25] I see this man on the shore. And he’s pointing out to somebody further out way past the waves breaking. And so, I grab my fins and my flippers and start running towards this man that’s way out there like a few hundred feet into the ocean. And as I’m looking at him, I notice like this man is struggling to keep his head above water. And he’s caught a riptide. He’s drowning. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:18:51] Riley was just about to dive into the water when she froze. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:18:57] I remember feeling so, so scared. And I was thinking back to the tsunami. I was having flashbacks. I was thinking I could die. Like this is risky even for me to swim out that far. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:19:10] But she was a trained lifeguard and wanted to save this man. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:19:14] In my head, I did this thing where I just counted to three. And I was like I’m going to count to three. And the moment I say three, I’m going to step into the water. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:19:24] One, two, three. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:19:28] And I start running towards this man and swimming out to him. And it gets to this point where I’m about 50 meters. And I see that his head is now just in the water. And he hasn’t lifted his head up. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:19:40] When Riley reached the man, she grabbed him and shouted at him. He didn’t respond. And Riley didn’t feel a heartbeat. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:19:47] This man had drowned. There’s storm all around me, and I’m praying out to the Lord. I’m like, Lord, this man is not going to die. Like you need to help me. You need to rescue this man. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:19:59] Riley felt the strength of the Lord within her, and she followed her training. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:20:05] I lifted this man onto my chest. And from behind him start compressions. And I’m just praying, praying, and praying. And a minute goes by. And the man throws up. And I put my hand on his neck, and he had come back to life. And I was just like thank you, Jesus. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:20:22] A local doctor happened to be on the beach at the same time. He called an ambulance and took over care of the man. For Riley, this whole ordeal was a moment of redemption. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:20:34] I just walked away being like the very place that I feared was now a place of victory and impact. And I was once terrified of the ocean and had seen the ocean kill people. And yet, here is this moment where the Lord completely turned the script. And he now made the ocean a place that someone came back to life in. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:20:57] In the years since she saved that man, Riley has remembered the decision she had to make between staying on shore or counting to three and running into the water. She applies this experience to sharing her faith and hopes other Christians will do the same. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:21:14] The reason we want to step out in those moments that we’re choosing between the shore and the ocean, between our comfort zone and like the zone that is going to push us beyond what we’re used to is that there’s somebody else’s life on the line. And it might not just be physically; it might be that you get the honor of sharing the gospel with somebody. Or you just get to be the Jesus – the only Jesus that some people ever meet. And it might be you walking into a coffee shop, and you see a lady. And she looks lonely. You get – you feel your heart racing. You think should I go like say something to her? I just want to encourage you. That’s the moment. And that’s the moment that I would just count to three and just like push myself to do it. The enemy wants you to be bound in fear, but God wants you to step out in courage. 

Music tag:
[00:22:06] 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:22:18] God wants you to step out in courage. Maybe you’ve been afraid to reach out to God to begin a relationship through His Son, Jesus Christ. If so, we’re here to help you right now. Call the Billy Graham 24/7 prayer line. There is somebody there ready to talk with you. And you can reach them at (855) 255-PRAY. That’s (855) 255- PRAY. We’ve also got resources online that can answer your questions about being a follower of Jesus Christ. Go to FindPeacewithGod.net. Now, if you didn’t catch website address or the prayer line phone number, look in the show notes. You will find them there. In just a minute, we’ll share the last question we asked Riley. And you’ll want to hear what she had to say. 

Audio tag:
[00:23:14]

Billy Graham:
[00:23:25] Today, we need desperately to have men and women of courage and discipline for courage and discipline are contagious. 

Announcer:
[00:23:31] Billy Graham… 

Billy Graham:
[00:23:33] Christ never allowed anyone to be a bystander or a spectator. Christianity, if it is anything, it is something to which you must respond and commit yourself. The word “Christian”, itself, means literally a part of Son of Christ. A true Christian never plays it safe. He never sits on the fence. He commits himself. The effective Christians throughout all of history have been men and women of great personal courage and discipline. The Bible says plainly that our mental powers are to be brought under the control of Christ. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ says the Scripture. Today, I’m calling upon Christians everywhere to come to Jesus Christ in dedication, surrender, and self-discipline. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:24:19] Would you like to know more about how to do that? We’ve got answers at FindPeacewithGod.net. And if you haven’t yet discovered the joy and purpose that comes with having a relationship with Jesus, that same website can help you too. The address again is FindPeacewithGod.net. Our guest on this episode of GPS: God. People. Stories. is Riley Kehoe. She survived the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, which killed over 227,000 people in Thailand and 13 other countries. Today, Riley is a speaker and author who encourages Christians not to let fear keep them from sharing their faith. As we wrapped up our time talking with her, we asked Riley if there was anything else she wanted to share with us. Yes, there was as a matter of fact. She said she wanted to pray for you. 

Riley Kehoe:
[00:25:17] Dear Jesus, I thank you that you are the God of courage. And you are the one that tells us in your Word to not fear. And so, Lord, I just pray that you would show each of us that are listening to this right now the path of courage, Lord. And I just thank you, Lord, that you’re not expecting us to be completely fearless. But you are calling us to do it and do it scared anyway. And so, Jesus, I pray that as people listen to this podcast, as they listen to these words, Lord, that you would just impart on people just the spirit of courage. That you, Lord, when we look away from fear, we want to look to the Father. So, Lord, I want to pray that we would keep our eyes fixed on you. And Lord, I pray for those people that are listening to this right now that are so overwhelmed by fear, or anxiety, or depression. Lord, would you meet them radically. God, would you come with your presence and meet them wherever they are. In their car, in their room. Lord, I just pray for the presence, the tangible presence of God, to bless people right now. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:26:18] Amen. We’re thankful that Riley Kehoe could join us on this episode. And we are grateful for that prayer. Her new book is titled Three Seconds of Courage: How Small Acts of Bravery Lead to Big Change. Riley lives on a mini farm in Franklin, Tennessee with her husband and newborn daughter. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you’re subscribed to GPS so you do not miss any future episodes. They’ll be there waiting for you on your favorite podcast app, or you’ll find us always on YouTube. We release new episodes every other Wednesday. I’m Jim Kirkland. And this is GPS: God. People. Stories. It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Always good news. 

Music tag:
[00:27:04] 

End of transcript