Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope
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Meet Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak: one buried under the wrong name, one in a coma and being cared for by the wrong family. This shocking case of mistaken identity stunned the country and made national news. Would it destroy a family? Shatter their faith? Push two families into bitterness, resentment, and guilt? Read this unprecedented story of two traumatized families who describe their ordeal and explore the bond sustaining and uniting them as they deal with their bizarre reversal of life lost and life found. And join Whitney Cerak, the sole surviving student, as she comes to terms with her new identity, forever altered, yet on the brink of new beginnings. Mistaken Identity weaves a complex tale of honesty, vulnerability, loss, hope, faith, and love in the face of one of the strangest twists of circumstance imaginable. Publishers Weekly In a widely reported incident in 2006, Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak, students at an evangelical college in Indiana, and their families were victims of a ghastly mistake: the wrong girl was identified as the survivor of a car crash that claimed multiple lives. Only after five weeks, when the girl emerged from a coma, was the error discovered. The families and the survivor, Whitney, record their experiences in this heavily Christian account. Those seeking a tale of extraordinary emotions to match the extraordinary circumstances will be disappointed: both families are devoutly religious, and their faith is of the sort that does not admit a great range of feelings. Anger and anguish are quickly recast as professions of faith and celebrations of life in Christ. The Van Ryns immediately embrace Whitney and dismiss a reporter's suggestion of lawsuits. Nor are the Ceraks bitter, not even Whitney, who suffers brain damage. As they describe it, the story inspires others to adopt their beliefs. (Because of such conversions, Whitney writes that the five people killed in the crash have given their lives for Christ.) Readers who don't share the authors' faith may feel alienated, however much they admire the fortitude of the families.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Prologue vii1 The Exchange 12 April 26, 2006 133 ICU 274 Coming To Grips With A New Reality 355 Waiting 456 Comfort In The Midst Of Pain 617 From Fort Wayne To Sydney And Every Point In Between 738 First Milestone 839 "Happy Birthday, Whitney" 9110 Turning A Corner 10111 A Celebration Of Life 11312 "HI" 12513 "Life Will Never Be The Same Again" 13914 Waking Up 15315 Mistaken Identity 16516 Telling The Family 18117 Back From The Dead 19118 Hope In Tragedy 20519 After The Hurricane 22120 Fast Forward 23321 Moving Ahead 243Epilogue from Whitney 255Afterword 261In Honor of Those Lost 269Acknowledgments 274
