Surviving 9 Stab Wounds: Faith and Forgiveness | The Hero Within with Karen Hall

What happens after survival? Karen Hall celebrates with Lauren Willardson, about how the Lord not only helped her heal physically, but enabled her to come off conqueror!  Witness her story of faith, forgiveness, and finishing God’s mission in Part 2 of this inspirational story on The Hero Within with Karen Hall, where we move beyond survival into the greater challenge: physical and emotional healing as well as choosing forgiveness. After surviving nine stab wounds during a mission in Texas, Lauren faced an equally powerful journey—choosing to forgive her attacker and embracing God’s call to continue His mission.

This episode explores the emotional and spiritual healing that follows trauma, and the courage it takes to live beyond fear. Lauren shares her deep gratitude for the Lord saving her life yet again which motivated her to want to continue serving Him and helping others.  With vulnerability and strength, Lauren reveals how she turned unimaginable pain into a testimony of faith and resilience. 

Host Karen Hall, The Queen of Empathy™, guides this heartfelt conversation with compassion, showing how emotional intelligence and faith work hand-in-hand to turn tragedy into triumph. This episode moves beyond survival—it’s about redemption, purpose, and the healing power of forgiveness.

Lauren's story gives us all hope for healing from the traumas we experience in this life, and the power of gratitude to help us move beyond our pain. 

Meet Karen Hall:

Karen Hall, known as The Queen of Empathy, is an Emotional Intelligence Leadership Coach, speaker, international bestselling author, and podcaster. With over 40 years of experience coaching, Karen specializes in helping leaders develop emotional intelligence to build trust and strengthen relationships. Karen combines neuroscience, emotional intelligence principles, and practical leadership strategies to increase resilience and inspire high-performing teams. She is the Executive Producer and host of The Los Angeles Tribune, and Managing Director of The Los Angeles Tribune Women’s and Spanish Journals .  Trained by renowned thought leader Marianne Williamson as a spiritual life coach, she hosts The Hero Within Podcast™, ranked in the top 2.5% globally. She also hosts Unstoppable AF - Unstoppable AND FUNNY! comedy podcast, The Empathy Advantage podcast and The AI Advantage podcast. Karen empowers leaders to regulate emotions to remain calm in crisis, overcome adversity, and deepen meaningful connections. Married for nearly 40 years to her husband Joshua, Karen cherishes her family of four children and five grandchildren as her greatest blessing.

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Meet Lauren Willardson:

Lauren Willardson, an Utah native, graduated from BYU in spring of 2025 with a degree in journalism and minors in Spanish and political science, with an emphasis in religious freedom. She was serving for just 10 weeks as a young missionary when an intruder entered her apartment in the middle of the night, stabbing her and her companion multiple times in their sleep. The young missionaries were saved by the hand of God, and Lauren has since enjoyed sharing her story to promote faith through podcasts, firesides, and many other venues. You can learn more about her story on Facebook and Instagram @TheWorkofHisHands.

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