Friday, July 30, 2010

Mistaken Identity


I accomplised another goal as I finished book #10 yesterday! I read Mistaken Identity, by the Van Ryn and Cerak families along with Mark Tabb. I had borrowed this book from my grandparents 2 summers ago and read it on the plane to visit my friend, Kimberly, in California. I was almost in tears as I sat on the plane reading it - I would HIGHLY recommend this book!

Mistaken Identity is about real life events that happened in April 2006. There was a bad car accident that involved students from Taylor University in Indiana. Five individuals were pronounced dead at the scene, and I think three were taken to the hospital. The student who was said to be Laura Van Ryn was air lifted to the hospital and spent the first few weeks after the accident in a coma. Mean while, the Cerak family had a funeral for their daughter, Whitney. However, 5 weeks after the accident, when Laura began to function more on her own, she was asked to write her name - she wrote out WHITNEY. The two girls had been misidentified at the time of the crash! Dental records confirmed that it was infact Whitney Cerak, and it was Laura who had died in the crash. What a shock that was to both families!

Whitney's family came to the hospital to continue to care for their daughter. She made a good recovery and was able to attend classes at Taylor that fall. However, a brain injury left her with a different personality than before, and she struggled to find her place back at school. After many tearful phone conversations with her father, she made it through her sophomore year of college.

I would have to say this is one of my favorite books. I love the example the two families showed of their love for Christ and their trust in Him throughout this time. Mistaken Identity - read it if you get the chance!

No comments:

Post a Comment