Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope

This was a true story about the case from 2006 in Indiana, with the group of college kids, including Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak, who were involved in the accident. Everyone thought that Laura survived and Whitney died on the scene. But 5 weeks later, after Laura(Whitney) woke from her coma, they learned that she was really Whitney.

I'm going to write this entry a little differently than I usually do. I just finished "Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope" written by Don and Susie Van Ryn, Newell, Colleen, and Whitney Cerak, and Mark Tabb.

This was one of those books that once I picked up, it was impossible to put down. I had actually started other books, but put them down in order to read this book. I do find it hard to believe that Laura's family didn't realize the girl in the bed wasn't Laura considering they had spent 5 weeks at her bedside. Especially, after noticing certain things, like the clothes that the authorities gave them after the accident, the belly button ring, the teeth, and comments from others. This case was actually featured on Dateline NBC recently, and I went back and watched all the video clips. The book said everything that was said in the video clips, maybe even more. One thing that the book pointed out that the videos different was Ruthanne, Don's sister in law making a comment "I don't care what anyone says. That doesn't look like Laura to me." It kinda seemed like her comment was dismissed. This happened one other time, and actually that's what led them to finding out who Laura really was. I also found it odd that Neither set of parents identified their daughter. The Ceraks didn't want to because they wanted to remember their daughter the way she was before the accident, which was understandable.

However, I definitely admire both families. I could not imagine being in either of their shoes and could not imagine what they must've been feeling. And I especially admired the Van Ryn family for the way they dealt with finding out that the girl they though was their daughter was really not.

I definitely give this book 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone. I finished this book on 4/5/2008.