Mistaken Identity

[jannieC]

By Theodore Kim, USA TODAY
INDIANAPOLIS — The VanRyn family learned Wednesday that the patient they cared for and prayed for the past five weeks is not their Laura.
Laura, it turns out, is dead.

The young woman in the hospital bed, who suffered head injuries in an April 26 highway accident that killed five people, is Whitney Cerak.

Whitney's family thought they buried her weeks ago.

"We have some hard news to share with you today," the VanRyn family said in a blog at lauravanryn.blogspot.com, where it had been posting updates.

"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 (University) student of hers, Whitney Cerak."

Cerak, now 19, of Gaylord, Mich., is a freshman at the Upland, Ind., university, while VanRyn, 22, of Caledonia, Mich., was a senior.

Cerak is the one recovering at the rehabilitation facility in Grand Rapids, Mich., after a tractor-trailer struck the van she and VanRyn were riding in.

The VanRyn family said a "misidentification" was made at the time of the accident near Marion, Ind., and that the women shared an "uncanny" resemblance.

"Their body types are similar, their hair color and texture, their facial features, etc.," the family said.

The Grant County, Ind., coroner said that the accident scene had been strewn with purses, and that students had identified the survivor as VanRyn. No scientific testing was conducted to verify the identities.

"I can't stress enough that we did everything we knew to do under those circumstances, and trusted the same processes and the same policies that we always do," Coroner Ron Mowery said in an Associated Press report. "This tragedy unfolded like we could never have imagined."

In a posting soon after the crash, Lisa VanRyn, Laura VanRyn's sister, said her sister suffered broken bones, cuts and bruises and facial swelling.

For more than four weeks, VanRyn's family apparently had no doubts their patient was Laura.

On May 5, they reported that "the color in her face continues to improve."

As recently as May 16, they had written that she had "started talking to us last night! She's said 'hi' several times and repeated the phrase 'good morning' back to Mom this morning."

And, as recently as Monday, the VanRyns reported: "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."

Mowery said VanRyn's boyfriend initially questioned her identity based on the young woman's behaviors and comments. Then VanRyn's father became suspicious when she referred to him by a pet name he didn't recognize.

However, in the past couple of days, as their patient became more aware of her surroundings, she had been "saying and doing some things that made us question whether or not she was Laura," the family said.

Bruce Rossman, a hospital spokesman, said that when staff asked her name, she was able to write, "Whitney Cerak." On Tuesday, the VanRyns began the process of making a positive identification.

In a statement issued by both families, the VanRyns and Ceraks said dental records allowed them to finally sort through the misidentification.

"We now know without a doubt that this is Whitney," the VanRyns said on their blog.

Officials at Taylor University, an evangelical Christian college in Upland, Ind., about 60 miles northeast of Indianapolis, confirmed the case of mistaken identity.

"Certainly there are those people that are devastated today because the person, their friend, who they thought had lots of hope and was progressing every day, they now found out she has died," Taylor student body president Brent Maher told CNN Thursday. "There are also those who are rejoicing because Whitney is alive."

Cerak's parents, Newell and Colleen Cerak, are now at their daughter's side, Joe Sereno, associate pastor at the Gaylord Evangelical Free Church said.

Mowery said Wednesday evening, "In this situation, there's no doubt there are things we could have ... (and) should have done."

Contributing: Star reporters Will Higgins, Tammy Webber, Jason Thomas, Andy Gammill, Mary Beth Schneider; USA TODAY reporter Mark Memmott; the Associated Press.

Posted 5/31/2006 4:37 PM ET

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...identity_x.htm

Have you all heard this? I'm just learning of it today, and I absolutely cannot wrap my head around this. How, HOW do you not know that the person you're looking at for five weeks is not your daughter? I can understand perhaps while she was comatose, but once the facial swelling went down and she was opening her eyes and speaking? I am so heartbroken for this poor family, and can you even imagine how the other family felt after learning their daughter was really alive??? So, so sad.

http://lauravanryn.blogspot.com/