Often you must have heard that the only thing certain in life is that it is uncertain. One never knows what the upcoming day has in store for them. Though its a little harsh to accept, yet the fact is, many of us don't really know whether will we be seeing the next morning sun or not. Still, we live each day as a best one and hope for the next one to be even better.
Fortunately, many of us really don't get to face this uncertainty. But not everyone is that lucky. Laura Van Ryn is that one unlucky person who had to taste the misfortune of life. And things did not end here. The situation she ended up in was so bad that it came as a devastation to not only her family but to one more family. The very few words she spoke after waking up from coma changed the lives of her family members in a single go. Things unfolded in such an unexpected manner that human could not understand what exactly happened and all they called it was fate.
She was in a coma for weeks. Doctors were doing their best to keep her alive. With every passing day, her chances of making it up to the world were going bleak. Her parents had no other choice than counting on almighty and prayers. Finally, she came out of the coma. Just when her parents thought that their prayers have been answered, the first words that their daughter spoke, changed their life in a microsecond.
For the parents seeing their dear child lying unconscious in the hospital bed for days must have been a painful side. Needless to say, Laura's parents were broken. Their hopes were getting dull. And when she finally woke up, their happiness knew no boundaries. It was as if a dead soul got a life. But when she spoke up, their heart broke, their minds were in a state of shock, everything seemed to be in chaos and they were baffled.
For weeks she had been lying motionless on that hospital bed. And when after days she woke, her parents were eager to hear her speak. To ask her how she had been and how did she end up in such a phase. Luckily, she spoke. While the fact that their daughter spoke left them teary-eyed, the words that followed her mouth brought their happy lives to a standstill. What did she speak?
Let's start from the very beginning to understand the crux of this tale. Laura Van Ryn was 22-years-old. She was happy to go-lucky person, who lived life to the fullest. She was an undergrad student at the Taylor University. Her extrovert nature made her a popular face at the university, and when she heard of a camping trip being organized she couldn't resist.
Taylor University where Laura was studying was a Catholic Institution and their sole motto was to serve the society. They often focused on social welfare and encouraged their students to too take an active part in it. The camping trip that was being organized was for a campus setting social welfare banquet. However, none knew then that this trip would be the last one for many.
Fort Wayne is the northeastern city in Indiana. It is known for its Botanical Conservatory. The camping trip was destined to this place on Wednesday, April 26, 2006, and it was barely on a two-hour distance from the university. The students and the teachers' staff were very excited about this road trip. Unfortunately, this trip could not meet its happy ending.
After knowing the aftermath of this trip to Fort Wayne, the students who did not join in for this trip considered themselves to be very lucky, as they did not have to face the destruction. They were saved beforehand only by the Mighty. Only nine students went for this trip including Laura. While the purpose of the trip came to a beautiful conclusion, the students could not make it safe to their homes. The clouds of darkness surfaced them...
It was a tiring day at the camping site. All the students were tired and were almost sleepy on their way return to university. While some slept, others were playing games and some were busy with their gadgets. And suddenly their movements were disturbed by a sudden jerk and it all came as a wrap to this day. It was all still.
Their bus was passing by Interstate 69 at the late hour when they felt that jerk. It was a horrible accident waiting for them over there. None thought that a day which was going so great by now would meet such a deadly end. It was terrible. A truck from the opposite side crashed into their vehicle.
A speeding semi-truck was coming from the opposite side and it in a single bang careened into the University's bus. The driver was reported to be asleep while driving and he did not realize when did his vehicle crossed the speed limit and crashed into the bus. The accident was so major that the entire Interstate had to face a stubborn traffic jam.
The people around immediately rushed towards the bus to help the severely injured. None could wrap their heads around the speed at which the semi-truck collided with the truck. The students were badly injured and were bleeding. There was blood all around. Unfortunately, many lost their lives in this fatal tragedy.
When the crash was so major, expecting that people would have made it alive was something unwise. Of the nine associates of Taylor University, five lost their lives. Elizabeth Smith, 22; Bradley Larson, 22; Laurel Erb, 20; Whitney Cerak, 18; and Taylor University employee Monica Felver, 53, were all dead at the spot. While Laura was still breathing, none was really optimistic about her survival. Nor did the one's who lost their life thought that the days to come would unfold like the way they did.
Laura and three other fellow students were severely injured. They faced major head injuries and were bleeding. They were immediately rushed to the hospital in the hope to at least save those four. Little did Laura know that fate would play its role and her family's life would change not just once but twice with a blink of an eye.
Laura's parents were yet not aware of the tragedy their daughter brushed her teeth with. They were waiting for her return. It was quite late and even they were worried. Her mother's eyes were stuck to the entrance door and her ears were yearning to hear the doorbell ring. Sadly, neither the door opened nor the doorbell rang. But a phone call rang which made the floor under their feet sweep off.
Susie (Laura's mother) couldn't believe her ears as she held the phone in her hand. She screamed out loud and fell on the floor. Susie and Don (Laura's father) immediately rushed to the emergency ward at the hospital where their daughter was being admitted. Laura's condition was reported to be extremely critical. Poor souls had no idea it was the mere beginning of the destruction...
Laura had got a deep cut in her head. Her head injury was critical. The doctors were not sure if she would be able to survive or not. To make matters worse, Laura was slipping into the state of coma. Things were sliding out of the wrist of the doctors. And Laura slept in the coma. The Ryn's did not want to give over their daughter and in days that followed a revelation changed the entire dynamics of their family.
On one hand, Laura's parents were praying for her daughter's recovery while on the other hand, the society, university and the parents who lost their children in the accident were mourning. Funerals were held and people in the entire country grieved at the loss of their children. A family among the mourners did not know what was waiting for them. Meanwhile, Laura's condition deteriorated only to...
Doctors asked Laura's parents to take her back home. She wasn't showing any signs of recovery and keeping her at the hospital just meant increasing the medical expenses. But as one says, hospital walls hear more prayers than a holy place and something similar happened. Laura's finger showed some movement. The little movement of fingers brought a turmoil.
It was no less than a miracle. Even doctors were surprised at the sight of Laura moving her fingers. Her parents breathed a sigh of relief. She was trying to pinpoint at her parents but was so weak that she couldn't even pull her hand. Soon she went off to sleep. Lisa, who was Laura's sister found this site very abrupt. She thought that she was trying to convey something but what?
In the days that followed, her family took intense care of her. For any parent, they want to see their child recover fast and same was the case with Don and Susie. As time flew, Laura began recovering, but she still couldn't speak up properly. Every now and then she would mumble something and everyone kept wondering, what was she trying to tell them.
One day again Laura mumbled. And this time Lisa was curious. She was on her foot and carefully placed her ears in front of Laura's lips to make sure that she gets to hear what Laura wanted to say. What Lisa heard shocked her to the extreme. The world came shattering to her.
Laura mumbled, "Parents, False Parents". Lisa could not believe what she heard. What did Laura mean by that? She immediately backed off and rushed to her parents to tell what Laura just whispered. Her parents too were broken and confused hearing the news.
Don and Susie ask the doctors for their guidance. Luckily the doctors said that as Laura had faced a major accident and she just overcame coma, her mind is still in trauma and due to medicines she must be feeling dizzy and uttering words. However, her parents still were sure that something was wrong. And with Laura's classmate visit to the hospital, things changed completely.
Another day, Laura's classmate came to the hospital to see her friend. But she was surprised to see that Laura was smiling a little that too in a different manner. This was not all, she even realized that her teeth looked a little different. Though her injuries did not harm her jawlines then why were they looking so different?
Laura's parents did not pay attention to such weird happenings and realizations until the day they themselves discovered another fact. One day in the absence of the nurse, Susie was dressing up Laura when she noticed that Laura's navel piercing was missing. She clearly remembered how excited Laura was on getting her navel pierced and today there wasn't any signs piercing. What was going on?
Though the family did not want to think on the lines like the ones which were somehow forming when they could see that Laura was whole a lot different from what she used to be before the accident, a therapist at the rehab center helped them. She asked Laura to pen down her name on the piece of paper. The piece of paper shattered and broke the illusion.
What Laura wrote was something her parents feared. She wrote her name as "Whitney" and her parents' name as "Newell and Colleen". This was what she meant when she said "false parents". The Ryns broke into tears. The girl they had been taking care since so many days was not their daughter.
To confirm their nightmares, Don and Susie even performed a dental exam on their "assumed-to-be-daughter". And when the results declared that it wasn't Laura, but Whitney Cerak, their world came shattering to them. Whitney was another person who was assumed to have lost her life in this tragic car accident. And there had been a terrible identity confusion.
This identity crisis was all due to the mix-up of the girls ID-Cards. The accident was so enormous, it was believed that Laura's ID was unknowingly clipped or found near Whitney which made for this major mistake. And call it fate or what, but both the girls shared very similar facial characteristics.
Both the girls shared extremely similar looking facial features. Anyone could have easily mistaken their identities. They had a fair complexion, similar built-structure, blonde hair, and grey eyes. While the Ryns began mourning over her lost daughter, Whitney was crying in wait of her real parents.
The Ryns' life turned upside down with just a single revelation. Their dearest Laura was gone forever. And even terrible was the fact that they could not even see her in her last times. She was buried, buried under a false name, a false identity. But in their pain and grief, they decided to first inform Whitney's parents about this great news.
When the Ceraks got the phone call from the Ryns, they again had tears. But this time tears of joy. They have been crying for days in the grief of their lost daughter. For once they thought someone was playing a prank on them as they from their own hands had buried the dead body of their daughter. But, when they realized the truth, their hearts melted.
On receiving the news of Whitney's survival and condition, her parents rushed to the hospital. They could not hold on from feeling their daughter back in her arms. The daughter they thought they had lost forever, was alive. Whitney had the same emotions. She was, at last, reuniting with her family. However, things weren't the same at the Ryns' end.
What will one call this occurrence in the lives of the Ryns and Ceraks? It won't be wrong to call it a game of fate, their destinies. The reunion of Whitney with her parents was an emotional one. While on one side, a family was getting their daughter back, on the other side, another family was losing theirs.
After meeting with Whitney, her parents immediately met with Laura's parents. After all, who other than the Ceraks could understand better the pain that the Ryns were going through. Carly, Whitney's sister said their joy went in vain the moment they saw them. Their pain was what they felt more. The Ceraks joy was the Ryns pain.
Whitney and her parents were extremely grateful to Laura's family. They have taken care of her like their own daughter. Maybe because they thought that it was Laura, still they had loved Whitney and helped her recover. They wholeheartedly had nurtured her.
Both the families needed some time to recover from the major twist and traumas they had faced. They needed peace and strength to get over the unfortunate happenings. While the families remained shut in front of the media, it was only after two years they broke their silence.
The families decided that Whitney herself was the best person who could address the media. And when she began speaking, she again fell short of words. She thanked the Ryns for protecting and looking after her. To her, they were her parents as well. She says, "if not my biological parents, they have taken care of me like their own child."
Four years, after recovering from that major tragedy, Whitney got married. She tied the knot with her husband, Matt. Together they have three children and is a happy family. One fact at which Whitney still laughs is that she got married to Matt in the same church in which years before her false funeral took place.
Not every story makes it to a happy ending. And this tale was something that made one go through an array of emotions. It was a bittersweet one. While Whitney's return to her family was no less than a miraculous celebration, the same day came as a life-changer to Laura's family. All one will call it will be destiny, luck, fate...