Horrible mix up after crash : (

[Annie68]

My heart goes out to both families involved.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/NEWS99/305310002
Michigan crash victims' identities mixed up

May 31, 2006

Email this Print this By CECIL ANGEL

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER




Taylor University students involved in van crash whose identities were mixed up. (Taylor University)


For weeks, a Gaylord family has grieved over the daughter they buried following a traffic crash in April. Meanwhile, across Michigan, a family in Caledonia waited and prayed for their daughter -- who had been in the same accident -- to emerge from a coma.

As it turned out, they both had the wrong daughter.

The families of Laura VanRyn and Whitney Cerak discovered the case of mistaken identity this week, leaving one to mourn a daughter they believed had survived and the other to regain a daughter they thought was dead.

The mix-up was first suspected when Whitney Cerak, 18, of Gaylord emerged from a coma in a Grand Rapids hospital in recent days and found herself surrounded by the family of Laura VanRyn.

According to a statement released by both families on Wednesday, Whitney's "comments led the VanRyns to doubt she was their daughter Laura."

It took dental records to determine that the young woman in the hospital was in fact Whitney Cerak and not Laura VanRyn, 22, as she had been identified after the crash in April.

Whitney Cerak's parents believed they had buried their daughter weeks earlier.

The girls, according to the statement, shared a "striking similarity in size, hair, features and body type."

Both were students at Taylor University in Upland, Ind., at the time of the crash. They were riding in a van that was struck by a tractor-trailer driven by a Canton, Mich. man that drifted across a highway median. Five people in the van were killed.

A Taylor University spokesman announced the mistake Wednesday saying the Grant County Coroner had contacted the school saying that VanRyn was one of five students who had died in a crash.

VanRyn's family disclosed the mix-up Wednesday on a Web log that they had used to record detailed updates on the recovery of the woman they had believed was their daughter.

"Our hearts are aching as we have learned that the young woman we have been taking care of over the past five weeks has not been our dear Laura, but instead a fellow Taylor student of hers, Whitney Cerak," the VanRyns said on the blog.

 

[Annie68]

Web log a record of one family's hope
Posts update the recovery of woman they thought was their daughter, sister

June 1, 2006

Email this Print this BY TAMARA AUDI and BEN SCHMITT

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Related articles:

• WHITNEY LIVED, NOT LAURA: ID mix-up after crash in Indiana stuns the families of 2 Michigan women
On the weekend of April 28, two days after a catastrophic road accident killed five of her fellow passengers and left her broken and sporadically comatose, the young woman in the hospital gave a thumbs-up sign to show she understood the nurse.

From that moment, every detail of her progress and struggle was recorded on a family Web log -- down to the flush of her cheek and the beats of her heart.

But what started out as an effort to update friends and family on the progress of Laura VanRyn is now a heartbreaking record of another woman's recovery and one family's long, loving vigil that ended shockingly when they realized the woman they had been caring for was not VanRyn, but her fellow student Whitney Cerak.

The blog, at lauravanryn.blogspot.com, written mainly by VanRyn's sister, Lisa VanRyn, shows a young woman barely able to communicate at first, with tubes helping her eat and breathe, while being watched over by the VanRyns almost constantly:

"When Mom and Dad visited Laura this morning around 7:30 ... she was sitting in a chair and was making some small movements with her leg and arm," Lisa wrote on May 6. "And for those that are interested -- Laura's hair is in pigtails today. "

The family recorded intensely personal moments by her bedside and often invoked their religious faith and their love for one another. "As I sit here next to my little sister Laura at 1:49 a.m. while her, my brother and father are all resting their eyes for the night right here in the belly of the beast, I am reminded of all the times I should have said I love you," Ken VanRyn wrote on May 13.

On May 20, Lisa VanRyn accepted Laura VanRyn's diploma on her behalf and wrote the next day: "Accepting Laura's diploma yesterday reminded me of God's grace. It didn't feel right receiving something that someone else had done all the work for. I felt I should have done something to earn the right to be there."

The blog shows a young woman emerging slowly from trauma and lifting the VanRyns' hopes with every bit of progress.

May 16: "She has verbally responded to questions, they've asked her for example: 'Laura, do you want to sit up or lay down?' After a few seconds, she said, 'Sit back' and we helped her lay down. Also, she is standing a little bit more today and using those leg muscles."

By May 25, according to the blog, Lisa VanRyn reports that Laura VanRyn is out of the coma but adds "Is she alert, bright eyed and aware of all that's going on? ... no."

That same day, the woman they think is Laura VanRyn seems more lucid: "Therapist asked her: 'The sky is'

'Blue' Laura finished her sentence.

'Apples are,' Stephanie began.

'Green' Laura said."

But the blog also shows a woman who seems confused for reasons the VanRyns cannot yet understand, even as she makes more progress:

May 26: "Yesterday we were looking at some birds and Dad said: 'Laura, finish my sentence. The birds beak is ...' And Laura said 'pink' which was pretty accurate ... As far as recognizing us ... we think that sometimes she does, and sometimes she doesn't."

May 28: "Yesterday when she woke from a deep sleep, she seemed a little more taken aback by her surroundings and wondered where she was."

May 29: "Her clarity continues to improve. Earlier today she played a game of Connect 4 with one of the therapists and did quite well. While certain things seem to be coming back to her, she still has times where she'll say things that don't make much sense."

The following day, there was no entry. By Wednesday, authorities announced that the identities of two crash victims had been confused: Laura VanRyn had died and been buried. Whitney Cerak was alive and emerging from a major trauma. The VanRyns, for so long the watchful, hopeful, joyful family of a beloved sister and daughter, were entering theirs.

On Wednesday, the family posted a message saying they realized the woman they had been caring for was Cerak, not VanRyn, noting the women's "uncanny resemblance."

"It is a sorrow and a joy for us to learn of this turn of events. For us, we will mourn Laura's going home and will greatly miss her compassionate heart and sweetness while knowing that she is safe and with her King forever. We rejoice with the Ceraks that they will have more time on this earth with their daughter, sister and loved one."

They announced a memorial service for VanRyn and closed the note with a final sentence: "We love you Sweets."

 

[Tess]

The Gaylord family is very close to my sister-in-law--we are all simply speechless at the mix-up in identification. . .the psychological effects must be overwhelming for both families. Whitney's loss was a major blow to the community and I am sure it, and more importantly, the family are reeling from this latest turn of events.

Thank God, both are strong in their faith and will have Him to lean on as they attempt to process the information and deal with the legal and financial ramifications of the horrible mistake! I am also certain their community will rally behind them as well. My heart breaks for both families. . .

 

[mickey65]

What a terrible mix up. My heart goes out to all involved.

 

[lbgraves]

How chilling! I can't even begin to imagine what both of these families are going thru.

 

[4theloveofdisney]

How terrible! My heart goes out to the families. : *(

 

[Trish Bessette]

I was floored when I saw the news this morning. I feel so awful for both families. I pray they find the strenght to get them through this awful mistake.

 

[nanalisa]

I am an employee of Taylor University. We were knocked off our feet after a semi crossed the median and ran into a Taylor van filled with four Dining Service employees and five student workers killing 1 DS employee and 4 students. To find out 5 weeks later that Laura and Whitney were misidentified was, to say the least, almost impossible to believe. Imagaine hearing that your child, (Whitney) is still alive after 1500 people attended her funeral, is like a miracle. Then to spend 5 weeks caring, loving and helping a young woman you thought was yours, (Laura), then finding out that your daughter had actually died and was buried without your goodbyes is devestating.

Laura's memorial service is Sunday. Bless her heart, she was an amazing, beautiful girl.

From what I understand, Whitney recognized her mother right away and has improved vastly since reunited last Wednesday. I hope she will come back to Taylor some day. Her smile can light up a room.