It was an unspeakable accident. In 2006, nine Taylor University students and staff members were driving in a van when a tractor-trailer collided with their vehicle. One of the students, Whitney Cerak, was declared dead. Her parents would mourn her loss. Another one of the students, Laura Van Ryn, was alive but in critical condition. Her family, would spend five weeks at Laura's bedside before they realized, Laura wasn't Laura at all. After years out of the public eye, the Van Ryns have recently shared their story.
The woman whom the Van Ryans believed to be their daughter was in fact Whitney. Whitney and Laura so closely resembled each other that their families and authorities couldn't tell them apart. The Van Ryns became suspicious when Laura yawned and her teeth looked different. Then when they discovered a belly button piercing. When the young woman began to regain her abilities, a doctor asked her to write her name down. Instead of Laura, she wrote "Whitney." While the Ceraks got their daughter back, the Van Ryns had to reconcile the loss of their own. But the tragedy ultimately brought both families together.
"There are just some things that can't be explained, but the faith that we have in God has gone so deep," Don Van Ryn, Laura's father, said. "Even in the midst of the crisis it's been that which really has given us the strength to get through all of this."
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