- CBN News thanks the Cleveland Clinic

for making this program possible.

Today from the GlobalLane, acting on impulse

at her lowest time, 18year old Katie Stubblefield

took a rifle and shot herself in the face.

She survived and laterbecame the youngest recipient

of a face transplant.

How could this happen to aformer pastor's daughter?

And what role did God andthe Cleveland Clinic play

in helping Kate find a new face and life?

What Katie and herparents want you to know

if you're thinking aboutending your own life.

And it's all right here, rightnow from the Global Lane.

Each year, about one million people

commit suicide worldwide.

That's about one tragic end to a life

every 40 seconds or 3000 per day.

Today, we bring you the amazing story

of a family caught up in tragedy.

In March 2014, Katie Stubblefield failed

in the attempt to kill herself.

The nonfatal gunshot woundto her face caused her

to lose most of her visionand the ability to speak.

Her face was terribly disfigured,

but she found hope and help in God

and a team of medical professionalsat the Cleveland Clinic.

Last year in May, 2017, Katiebecame the youngest person

in the world to receivea full face transplant.

It took years in and out of the hospital,

a 31 hour surgery, andthree subsequent operations.

She needs therapy and treatments,

but Katie has found newlife out of the darkness.

Katie Stubblefield, her mom,Alesha, and her dad, Robert,

join us from the Ronald McDonald house

at the Cleveland Clinicin Cleveland, Ohio.

They're here to share their amazing story.

So, Robert, Alesha,most parents of children

who have attempted or committed suicide

say they were unaware thattheir child was having issues,

they never really had a cluethat something was wrong.

What was your experience?

- I would say obviously,initially, Alesha was

physically close by,

in the scene, if you would, so to speak,

I was at work that day,so obviously it was one

of just unbelief, itwas very surreal, shock,

horror, because there wasnothing that would give

a telltale sign.

I was a minister for over20 years, almost 25 years,

and dealt with a lot ofcounseling situations,

and this time I'm in a place to where

there was nothing there,there was nothing that was

a precursor to sayingsomething like this could be

on the horizon.

- Robert, you were at work,what was your reaction

when you were firsttold that your daughter

had shot herself?

- Well, it was just, it was pure shock,

because I was at work, my wife was there,

she called me, and her wordsto me were that Katie's gone,

and I said, "What do you mean gone?"

I knew that she had been upsetover some particular dynamics

and went to her brother'shome, and I asked, I said,

"What do you mean?"

and she said, "She shot herself,"

and at that moment, I'm literally,I was in a planning area

at the school, and I literallyremember standing straight up

and looking straight ahead,and you've seen the old movies

to where the camera kind of zooms

in one of those kind of moments,

and that's, it was animmediate tunnel vision,

and then from that point, Ibegan to go and get someone

to take me to the site which was probably

less than ten minutesaway, and it was horrific.

- Alesha, what was your experience?

- Total shock.

I think I was in shock for days, probably.

I mean, we had raised two other teenagers,

and Katie, by far, wasprobably our easiest teenager.

We kind of, God had beenquite gracious to us,

we didn't really, we had somestorm, a few things in life,

but overall, our kids, theywere pretty easy on us,

and to think that Katiewould have even thought

about hurting herself blewme probably off the map.

We talked a lot in our family

about everything youcould possibly talk about.

I remember talking with Katie one night

about Rick Warren's son, I think it was,

we were talking about, Ithink he had some depression,

but then we talked about teenagers

and sometimes how when things happen,

how you would react andwe kind of, with our kids,

would not say if this happens,

we'd say when you get into this situation,

tell us what you would do,and so our kids would tell us,

"Well, you know, Mom,"

and Katie and I had prettymuch talked about everything,

and so we just prepared Katie for,

Katie always had a deep soul.

When Katie made a commitmentto anything or anybody,

it was always usually ten times more

what other people would do.

So we always knew that aboutKatie, but at the same time,

we also felt like Katiewas always our type of kid

that would think thingsthrough before she racted.

But on that day, she didn't,

and we'll never know exactly what went on

in the closet that day.

Katie was a hunter herself, shewent hunting in high school,

all three of our kids didit some, a little bit for

the culture, where they were,I don't think any of them

were lifelong hunters, butthey all did it a little bit

because of the culture,but Katie knew gun safety,

so when she went to herbrother's closet that day,

do we think she actuallyreally wanted to die?

I would probably say no.

I pretty much would say no.

Do I think she had a impulsive moment?

Yes.

Katie will tell you by her own admission

that she said, "I guess Ilost my way for a while, Mom."

Whether it was five minutes or an hour,

"I lost my way,"

and she can't go backwards,we have to go forward,

but as far as herattempting to hurt herself

in any way, shape or form,totally blew me off the map.

- When we come back, a lookat the amazing team of doctors

and medical care personnelat the Cleveland Clinic

who worked tirelessly to helprebuild Katie's face and life.

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- Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsen.

Did you know there are morethan 148 millions orphans

in the world today?

148 millions.

But it was three littlegirls that taught me about

the plight of orphans.

My husband and I spent nearly a month

immersed in the daily activitiesof a Ukrainian orphanage

as we waited to adopt three sisters.

I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,

and the overwhelming desire to be loved.

That experience changed me forever,

and out of it grew a ministry

from my heart called Orphan's Promise.

Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children

in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes,

they're being education, andthey're learning life skills.

I'm asking you to joinwith me and become family

to these children.

Will you call the numberon your screen right now?

Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.

(upbeat music)

- After her failed suicide attempt,

a medical team at the Cleveland Clinic

performed a surgery never done before

on someone as young as Katie Stubblefield,

a face transplant.

A doctor in Memphis recommended

the rare and delicate surgery.

- The head doctor therecame to Rob and I and said,

"I really think the only thing

that's gonna help Katie get back life,"

and he said it would be a face transplant,

and we had heard that term one other time,

but Rob and I reallydidn't know exactly about

a face transplant, but we talked

with this head trauma surgeon down there,

and he said the chances ofKate gettin' in, he said,

"I didn't even know whetherto bring it up to you,

"because the chances of hergettin' in are pretty slim,

"because she has so many thingsgoing on, she's so frail."

He said, "But I've made some calls,"

and he said the first placeis the Cleveland Clinic,

and he said there's only afew hospitals in the country

that do these, he said,"But that would be,

"if this call comes through," he said,

and this doctor was a goodCatholic man, he goes,

"Don't think about it,don't pray about it,

"I don't care what you have to do,

"just get on the plane and go,"

and we're like okay.

He said, "That's all you have to do,"

'cause he was gettin' ready to leave

to go to his son'sgraduation, and he said,

"I may not ever see you guys again,

"but if that call comes through, go,"

and it did come through, ithappened in a matter of hours,

that's pretty an unbelievablestory how that happened, too,

it happened so quickly, andthen when we arrived here

in Cleveland, my husband came up with her

on the May the 2nd, theflight 'cause only one parent

could go, so I told him you'll have

to be answering questions'cause to be honest with you,

even five weeks later, itwas just still so surreal

that we were walking through this.

And so he went with Katie onthe plane, on the May the 2nd,

and then I came up a daylater 'cause I got stuck

in the Chicago airport, butfrom the time we got here,

our doctor, Gasman, I thinkhe was probably shocked

at what he had committed to also,

because he's thinking transplant,and then the next thing

I think he's thinkingis I just want to keep

this girl alive, because Idon't think he really knew

what he was gettinginto either, and he may,

I don't think so though.

But then, from there, theCleveland Clinic has just,

God has just been extremely gracious to us

with our team of transplant doctors.

Katie has had so manyprocedures, so many surgeries,

and we're still not there,she still has to have

some revision, we still havea whole full year of therapy,

on steroids, but the Cleveland Clinic

and our doctors here have, I mean,

they saved her life inMemphis, don't get me wrong,

they literally in Memphis,they kept her alive,

but here at the ClevelandClinic, we've just had

some of the best doctorsprobably in the country,

probably even the world,but we know as Christians

that God has given us thedoctors that he wants for Katie,

and I don't think there'sprobably a day that goes by

that we don't thank theLord for the doctors

that have been placed in Katie's life.

- How are things now, one year later,

after that transplant surgery?

- I would say it's,there's a lot of progress.

Some people think thatwhen you have this surgery

of this kind of situation,

that oh in a matter of five, six weeks,

you move on, but it's a slowtrain coming, so to speak.

It's something to where amajor, major thing has happened.

I call it the mothership of surgeries,

but it's a situation to where,

there's just so much yet to be done.

It's a thing to where we just have things

that have to beaccomplished, certain levels,

with speech especially,

and rehabs and strengthening.

So we've come a long ways,

and we still have a long ways to go.

- So I guess it doesn't really matter

what your professions is,it could happen to anyone.

- I remember when my son was very little,

and we were pastoring at a small church

in another state somewhere,he did something,

and somebody said, "Robert,and you're the pastor's son,"

and he looked at herlike what do you mean,

what's that supposed to mean?

He was clueless on that'cause we didn't raise them

in a fishbowl.

Other times, many peopleI know stereotype wise,

they would try to put you in a fishbowl,

but we never quite fit intothat, we were kind of outside

the box in a lot ofregards, but some people,

in this setting, I doknow that along the way,

there's probably a few that have said,

"How could this happen to afamily who professes faith?"

especially maybe at one timewas in this kind of thing,

vocationally and so forth.

People have certaincriteria and expectation

that is just, it'sextraordinarily unrealistic.

It doesn't matter, thething that is so true

in this journey thatI know many people may

or may not understand isthat this type of thing,

when there's an attemptedself harm of an individual,

this type of thing doesnot respect religion,

it doesn't respect socioeconomic status,

your color, your culture,that has nothing to do

with anything, but thisis something that is just,

there's an element outthere, an unseen element

that really is, I guessfor lack of a better word,

a force to be reckonedwith, and an attack upon

so many lives, especially at this age.

- And when we return,

finding strength toovercome through faith.

Where was God in themidst of Katie's ordeal?

Also, some final words forthose who may be thinking

about ending their life.

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- 911, what's your emergency?

- [Female] We have a vehicle

that is upside down and on fire.

These people are trapped,and we need the jaws of life.

- [Female] My feet were on fire,

the car was fillin' up with smoke.

- [Male] There was fire comin'in through my left door,

the steering wheel was stuck in my chest,

I couldn't move.

- [Female] The seatbelt, Ikept trying to release it,

but it wouldn't release.

- [Female] And I just screamed,"God, send your angels now."

- [Female] I saw a setof just white hands,

it was just a burst of white light.

- Attempted suicide andfacial reconstruction.

Now God and the Stubblefields.

This wasn't just a short term surgery,

you guys spent years in the hospital,

multiple surgeries, how didyou ever get through it?

- Well the bottom line is is that we have

a relationship with Christ,and that may sound cliche

to many people, but it'sone of those situations,

we both came from aChristian faith background,

that's who we are, andthat's what we've been

for so long, but this was ascenario where it went from,

and it went from just what you believed,

your faith value systemand your upbringing

or anything like that,it came to the point

where you faced somethingthat put a demand on it,

and it was somethingthat either this was real

or this was not real.

And for us, it was real, andit was our ultimate recourse

of where we found ourstrength, our sanity,

our ability to cope.

- Robert, you're a formerpastor, some people might say,

"How could this ever happento a pastor's family?

"His child attempting suicide."

- I had been out of thepastor for a number of years

when all this hadtranspired, and backing up,

the backstory on that wouldbe the way we raised our kids

is that I always, I hada philosophy, a mindset,

and it probably got me in moretrouble than it helped me,

it was that I used to tellpeople that first of all,

I'm a guy, I'm a humanbeing who is a Christian

who just so happens to be a pastor,

and I kept in that order,and we raised our kids

in as much of a everydaynormality mindset as anybody else.

- We also said at the end of the day,

we have our relationship with Christ,

and then we have ourfamily, and there's nothing

or anything that we can'twalk through together,

so we kind of just, thatwas always the thing

that I always, thatwas my rock foundation,

so to think that any of my kidswould have hurt themselves,

I have to be honest with you,I was very blinded to that.

And so this whole thing withKatie has opened my heart

and mind up, because I have had,

being in the Christianworld my whole life,

I have had some dear friends,and some not so dear,

ask me, "How could Katie,why, and even a Christian?"

Katie came to know, I would say,

if you ask Katie when sheaccepted Jesus as her savior,

she would tell you, "WhenI was a little girl,"

that's what she would tell you.

But people that are Christians get cancer,

people that are Christiansgo through divorce,

people that are Christianshave teenage kids

that drink and drive.

I've learned there's notone thing we're exempt from.

I really didn't thinkthat it could happen.

It wasn't that I thoughtthat things couldn't happen,

but this particular thing,suicide, taking life,

being so precious, and it's a gift,

and there's nothing you can't,

there's always someone to talk to,

there's always, like Katie just said,

your problems are temporary,they're not permanent.

Some things may last longer,but when you're 18 sometimes,

and you're going throughrejection and pain

and lots of things, becauseof the way God wired

that brain, that frontallobe, that cortex,

they're very impulsive.

It's not always mentalhealth, I do think there are

a lot of teenagers thathave mental health issues,

I'm not putting down mental health,

but a lot of times, we've beenwith our psychiatrist here

at the clinic for four years,and she knows Katie very well,

and she has told us all alongthat she felt like Katie's,

which she's dealt with alot of this in her years

of her profession, wasdefinitely impulsivity,

but that's something I think that we have

to educate youth more about,

because I think in high schools,

we talk about drinking and driving,

we talk about drugs,we talk about safe sex,

but we don't talk aboutthe soul issues too much.

- Katie, what do you wantpeople to know about suicide

and what has happened to you?

I'm sure this has been verypainful, a lengthy ordeal,

but you're still alive, and God is good.

- Alesha and Katie'sstatements have shattered

everything overall thatobviously, number one,

that life is a precious thing,that's an immediate thing,

but I think a thing torecognize is is that

there is something there that really

is after the lives of young people,

whatever the age bracket might be,

and that we aren't, asAlesha said, we're not exempt

from many different angles that would try

to attack our lives and come at us,

but to recognize on a practical basis

that if you are in those low places,

whether you've hadsymptomatic things or not,

whether it's just impulsivity,reach out to someone,

whether it's a priest, apastor, a rabbi, a friend,

a relative, anybody, there'ssome human being somewhere

that you can latch onto thatyou can communicate with,

and at the end of theday, that there is a God

who is here, and that he will help,

and he will strengthen,and that you are not alone.

Ultimately, you are not alone,

and you do not have to choose,

that has been said before,

a permanent solutionto a temporary problem.

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- Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsen.

Did you know there are morethan 148 million orphans

in the world today?

148 million.

But it was three littlegirls that taught me

about the plight of orphans.

My husband and I spentnearly a month immersed

in the daily activitiesof a Ukrainian orphanage

as we waited to adopt three sisters.

I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,

and the overwhelming desire to be loved.

That experience changed me forever,

and out of it grew aministry from my heart

called Orphan's Promise.

Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children

in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes,

they're being educated, andthey're learning life skills.

I'm asking you to join with me

and become family to these children.

Will you call the numberon your screen right now?

Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.

- [Narrator] When you give,

smiles grow bigger.

When you care,

homes are happier.

When you comfort,

the hurt goes away.

When we all come together to love,

miracles happen.

- We often hear aboutAmerica's opiod epidemic,

but did you know there werealmost as many suicide deaths

in the United States in 2016as there were opiod deaths?

It's a national crisis.

U.S. veterans are amongthe most susceptible.

Their suicide rate is doublethe rate for non veterans.

The annual suicide ratefor veterans is about 30

out of every 100 thousand.

The civilian suicide rateabout 14 per 100 thousand.

Folks, we've gotta domore to prevent this.

20 veterans each day take their lives.

That's unacceptable for one

of the world's wealthiest nations.

Last year, I discussed veteran suicide

with my congressman, Scott Taylor.

He's a former Navy Seal

who understands all toowell some of the causes.

He also offered some solutionsto help our veterans.

- People don't reach out to the VA.

They just don't.

They don't call the suicide hotline,

they're not walking up there,

they're looking forpotentially someone else

who understands them, other veterans,

that sort of emergencyresponse to help them out

and their families, andagain, there's that gap

when they leave the serviceand become veterans,

so my office is working on asuicide prevention program,

actually right here in Virginia Beach

and the surroundingareas to look at that gap

to say okay, let's look ata public private partnership

that brings the VA in, thatbrings folks that are working

on traumatic brain injuryand PTSD, and depression,

and also a quick responseforce, if you will,

that can go right tothat veteran's house 24/7

to bring them in, to helpthem and to keep them close

to their families as well,too, so I think that we need

to change the way that welook at suicide prevention

with the VA, and we certainlyneed a uniform policy

across the VA for people whoactually physically walk there.

Native Americans areanother neglected group.

Did you know our indigenouspopulation suffers

from a suicide rate of 60% higher

than the general population?

At one time, the rate of theCrow Creek Sioux Reservation

in South Dakota was seventimes the national rate.

Our Mark Martin oncevisited that reservation,

he talked to the people there,

one man explained why heattempted to end his life.

- I thought I was all aloneand everything like that,

and I tried commitin'suicide, and when the person

that found me was my oldest daughter.

- That is common.

Many of those attemptingsuicide say they felt

they were all alone, butas Katie Stubblefield said,

there's always someone whocares, someone who will listen.

Many Christian ministry groups

are working with Native Americanreservations and veterans,

sharing the love of Christ,

reaching out to those to help them.

Many people who may bethinking about suicide,

also people suffering fromalcohol and substance abuse.

Sandy Gabe is a NativeAmerican who found help.

- All you have to do is reachout your hand, like I did.

God took my hand and gave me something,

and I'm glad of that.

- God loves you, and he hasa better plan for your life,

so if you are contemplating suicide,

or you need help overcoming an addiction,

or you're just finding ithard to cope with life,

there's always someone you can turn to.

Call the national suicideprevention lifeline

at 1-800-273-8255.

Or the CBN prayer line, 1-800-700-7000,

and remember what God said in Jeremiah,

chapter 29, verse 11, "Hehas plans to prosper you,

"not to harm you, plans to give you a hope

"and a future."

Well that's it from the Global Lane.

Be sure to follow us onFacebook, YouTube, SoundCloud,

iTunes, and Twitter, anduntil next time, be blessed.

(upbeat music)