For five weeks, the Van Ryn family watched over the broken body in the hospital bed, keeping a blog of their vigil as they hoped and prayed for the young blonde woman with the wide smile to emerge from her coma. When she yawned on May 15, they rejoiced and so did readers of their blog: it meant the patient was breathing on her own. When she said hello to a nurse, that went on the blog, and so too did her first faltering attempts at conversation.
But on Wednesday a three-paragraph entry on the blog under a quotation from Hebrews 13:8 revealed that the story of Laura Van Ryn had taken an unimaginably cruel twist. The woman the family had tended with such devotion was not their daughter and sister, Laura Van Ryn (22) but Whitney Cerak (18) a fellow student involved in the same horrific car crash.
Laura had in fact been killed in the accident, and buried by the Cerak family, believing her to be their child.
”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,” said an entry posted on Wednesday. ”There was a misidentification made at the time of the accident and it is uncanny the resemblance that these two women share. Their body types are similar, their hair colour and texture, their facial features.”
On Thursday, neither family was speaking to the media, and officials at the rehabilitation centre in Michigan where the young woman had been treated offered few further details as to how Cerak’s identity had remained hidden for so long. However, it is believed she suffered facial bruising and swelling in addition to brain injuries.
Both women were passengers in a van on April 26 when a truck jumped over the central reservation and ploughed into the side of the vehicle. Four students and a staff member were killed outright, and rescue workers arriving at the scene found bodies and belongings strewn across the road. Cerak was thrown about 15m from the van, landing on her left side. Rescue workers retrieved identification nearby, which belonged to Laura Van Ryn, and airlifted the injured woman to a hospital at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
School officials were asked to identify the bodies, said the local coroner, Ron Mowery. However, no scientific testing was performed, and families were not called to identify the dead.
”This is one of the most tragic upon tragic experiences,” Mowery told reporters. ”The one thing I regret the most is that it happened on my watch.”
In their small town of Gaylord, Michigan, the Cerak family mourned. About 1 400 turned out for Whitney’s funeral, where the casket remained closed. ”She lived a wonderful, full but short life,” said the obituary in the local paper, the Herald Times.
The Van Ryns, meanwhile, devoted their energies to willing the woman they believed to be their daughter to a full recovery. At the hospital in Fort Wayne, Cerak was treated for a broken leg, elbow, collar bone, and ribs. She was also on a ventilator for more than two weeks.
By mid-May, however, the injured young woman was slowly regaining consciousness and was transferred to the rehabilitation centre in Michigan.
The breathing tube was removed, allowing the possibility of speech. As the recovery continued, Laura’s sister Lisa Van Ryn kept a detailed diary, recording sessions with speech therapists, the young woman’s first attempts to drink and eat unaided and her first steps in the hallway. Each entry began with a biblical quotation.
But amid those repeated expressions of faith, some hints of doubt began to creep in that the woman the Van Ryns were nursing was one of their own.
”As Laura relearns how to express herself and tell us things that she needs or wants, it can be frustrating for her — especially when she tries to say something verbally and we don’t understand her,” says the entry for May 25. At one point, the woman in the hospital bed tried to punch one of the Van Ryns.
”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,” said an entry on May 29.
The family shared their suspicions with hospital authorities on Tuesday. ”Some comments that she made planted some seeds of doubt in the Van Ryns’ minds,” said Bruce Rossman, a spokesperson. ”There were one or two occasions when she was called Laura, and she said ‘No, Whitney’.”
At the Van Ryns’ request, the hospital checked the dental records of both women, establishing the identity of Whitney Cerak on Wednesday morning.
At Taylor University, the small evangelical Christian college where both women were students, news of the mistaken identity was met with shock and, later, fresh tears.
”We have run through a whole range of feelings following this revelation from feeling crushed to almost a sense of elation for the Cerak family,” said Jim Garringer, a spokesperson. ”We are numb really.” A memorial service for Laura Van Ryn is planned for this Sunday. Her family has asked that the Ceraks continue the blog in Whitney’s name.
The blog: Extracts from the blog kept by Laura VanRyn’s family as they cared for Whitney Cerak, in the belief that she was Laura
May 23
Laura had a relatively good day today … good therapy sessions and tonight she even helped us put her shirt on! She is doing some amazing things with her motor skill abilities. She also tried to put her own hair up in a ponytail and gave Kenny a couple of peace signs when he said ”Hey Laur, throw me one of dem peace signs.”
May 26
When we ask her if she sees something, she will usually nod her head to respond. 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. And if you ask her to look to her right or left she does that most of the time. As far as recognising us … we think that sometimes she does, and sometimes she doesn’t. Today she was asking for ”my dad” and when he went over and held her hand, she was satisfied to have him there.
May 29
Laura slept through the night again and we’re glad for that. 🙂
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.
May 31
We have some hard news to share with you today. 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. There was a misidentification made at the time of the accident and it is uncanny the resemblance that these two women share. As Whitney had been becoming more aware of her surroundings, she’d been saying and doing some things that made us question whether or not she was Laura. Yesterday, we began the process of making a positive ID. We now know, without a doubt, that this is Whitney. The Cerak family came down from Gaylord and we had the privilege of meeting with them this morning. 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. – Guardian Unlimited Â