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Steven Curtis Chapman’s Young Daughter Killed
By Christina Quick | May 22, 2008
I was saddened to hear of the tragedy in Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman’s family.
Chapman’s 5-year-old daughter, Maria Sue Chapman, was fatally injured Wednesday afternoon in the family’s driveway in Franklin, Tenn., when she was hit by a sport utility vehicle driven by her teenage brother, according to the Associated Press.
The child was airlifted to Vanderbilt Medical Center’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, where she died Wednesday.
A Tennessee Highway Patrol spokeswoman told the AP the teenager apparently did not see the girl and that several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident.
Maria was the youngest of the Chapman’s six children and one of three adopted daughters.
“Just hours before this close knit family was celebrating the engagement of the oldest daughter, Emily Chapman, and were just hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb Chapman’s completion of high school,” Chapman’s manager, Jim Houser, said in a statement sent to media. “Now, they are preparing to bury a child who blew out 5 candles on a birthday cake less than 10 days ago. These words are unthinkable to type. And yet we trust in a God who was not surprised by this and because of Jesus I am certain through faith in Him we will see Maria again.”
More than five years ago, Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing home their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption. The organization has provided grants to more than 1,700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world.
Chapman is a five-time Grammy winner and 54-time Dove Award Award winning artist who has sold more than 10 million albums and garnered 44 number-one hit singles. He also authored a book about the bond between fathers and daughters, “Cinderella: The Love of a Daddy and His Princess.”
As a parent, I can only imagine the heartache this family is facing. Please remember to hold them up in prayer. A memorial service is planned for Saturday morning at a Nashville church.
Chapman’s Web site features a video in honor of Maria. The clips show the young girl playfully helping her dad wash dishes and swimming in a pool. Click here to view it.
TPE featured Chapman in a 2006 interview in which he talked about adoption and his daughters. Read it here.
In the photo below, Maria is the one on her father’s lap. The other children are (from left) Will; Shaohannah, also known as Shaoey; Stevey Joy; Caleb; and Emily.
Topics: In the news |
May 25th, 2008 at 6:41 am
There are lessons for all of us in the Steven Curtis Chapman double tragedy where the youngest son accidentally kills the youngest daughter. How do you deal with such grief? With faith, hope and love.