Mistaken identity shifts grief after deadly accident

[Hannibal]

CALEDONIA, Michigan (AP) -- The casket was closed for Whitney Cerak's funeral more than a month ago. Her mother, Colleen, declined to look at the body, battered as it was in a collision between a van and a tractor-trailer.

"They wanted to remember her the way she was," said Cerak's grandfather, Emil Frank.

Meanwhile, the family of Laura VanRyn, another victim of the crash, kept vigil by a hospital bed. The severely injured young woman was in a coma for a time, but the family's blog detailed the many small steps she made toward recovery: feeding herself applesauce, playing Connect Four with a therapist. (Watch as the coroner explains "tragedy upon tragedy" -- 2:50)

But as her condition improved, Laura Van Ryn's family realized they had the wrong woman, and Colleen Cerak realized she had not buried her daughter.

The family of VanRyn, 22, disclosed the mix-up Wednesday on their blog. "Our hearts are aching as we have learned that the young woman we have been taking care of over the past five weeks has not been our dear Laura," but instead a fellow university student of hers, Whitney Cerak, they wrote.

The shock was equal but joyous for the family of Cerak, whose funeral drew 1,400 in her hometown of Gaylord, Michigan. "I still can't get over it. It's like a fairy tale," Frank said.

VanRyn and Cerak, 18, both students at Indiana's Taylor University, were in a university van when a truck crossed the median of Interstate 69 and collided with it April 26. Five of the 10 students and staff on board died.

The Grant County, Indiana, coroner's office apologized for the error Wednesday evening. But the VanRyns, who are from Caledonia, Michigan, said their daughter and Cerak bore an "uncanny resemblance."

Cerak suffered facial swelling, broken bones and cuts and bruises, and was in a neck brace.

The family said that as the young woman began regaining consciousness at a rehabilitation center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she said things that made them question her identity.

As recently as Monday, the VanRyns reported, "While certain things seem to be coming back to her, she still has times where she'll say things that don't make much sense."

In a statement, the two families said they took their concerns to hospital officials, and dental records confirmed that the injured woman was Cerak.

"Both families understand how this could have happened," said Bruce Rossman, a spokesman for Spectrum Health, which operates the rehab center.

Officials at Taylor University, an evangelical Christian college in Upland, Indiana, about 60 miles northeast of Indianapolis, confirmed the case of mistaken identity.

"We rejoice with the Ceraks. We grieve with the VanRyns," said Taylor spokesman Jim Garringer. He said the Grant County coroner notified the school of the error.

Coroner Ron Mowery described an accident scene strewn with purses and wallets and said acquaintances of the students had identified the survivor as VanRyn. No scientific testing was conducted to verify the identifications.

"I can't stress enough that we did everything we knew to do under those circumstances, and trusted the same processes and the same policies that we always do," Mowery said. "And this tragedy unfolded like we could never have imagined."

Word of the mix-up began to circulate Wednesday morning at Gaylord High School, said Cerak's volleyball coach, Jen Mazza.

"I don't know what to feel right now. You're elated but you almost don't want to trust it," Mazza said. "Right now we just want to get her home and see her for ourselves. ... Everyone who was touched and grieving for Whitney will be grieving for the other family. We've been there."

Joe Sereno, associate pastor at Gaylord Evangelical Free Church, said what had been thought to have been Cerak's casket had been closed both for visitation and for the funeral.

"We did everything you usually do," Sereno said. "We had a memorial service at the church. The family did a private burial the next day. Everybody thought it was Whitney."

VanRyn and Cerak, like others in the van, worked for Taylor's dining services and were preparing for a banquet for the inauguration of a president of the 1,850-student school.

Calls to the VanRyns and Ceraks were not immediately returned, and a young man outside the VanRyns' home declined a reporter's requests for comment. An attorney for the Cerak family did not return a call either.

Prosecutors are weighing criminal charges against the truck driver, saying he may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

A memorial service for VanRyn is scheduled Sunday near Grand Rapids.

Source

[Bluehawk]

Well, the families may "understand" how this happened, but I sure as heck do NOT!

I mean, don't they usually put an ID bracelet on everyone who comes in the door almost immediately?

Cripes!

[Woodmonkey]

How sad for the family who lost their child after thinking she had survived. It's a shame that they didn't check the dental records of the dead girl just in case.

[dynamic_one]

It doesn't seem as though it would be easy to make this type of mistake. I feel bad all around. Especially for the family that had initial hope only to have it decay with the notice of the mix up.

[odannyboy]

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - They had much in common, much more than their long, blond hair: optimistic smiles, a flair for sports and a devotion to religion. And those who knew them say the two shared an uncanny knack for making a friend of anyone they met.

But in the aftermath of an accident, it was their outward similarities that led to a tragic mix-up, with one family mourning a child who was not dead, and the other nursing a child who was not their own.

Five people died on the night of April 26, when a tractor-trailer plowed into a van carrying students and workers from Taylor University, a Christian school in Indiana. Everyone thought that 19-year-old Whitney Cerak was one of them, and that Laura VanRyn, 22, survived in a coma-like state, her face swollen and bones broken.

Last week, it was revealed there had been a terrible mix-up: The young woman recovering in a hospital for the last five weeks was, in fact, Cerak.
The accident, the confusion, the sorrow for one family and the joy for another have left many people reeling, says Jim Garringer, spokesman at Taylor, a tight-knit school with about 1,850 students.

"In so many ways, we're just numbed by it," he says. "In so many ways, we just can't believe it."

At the center of this extraordinary case of mistaken identity are two young women with a "striking similarity in size, facial features and body type," the families said in a statement.

But they shared much more. Friends and associates describe Cerak, a freshman, and VanRyn, a senior just weeks shy of graduation, with some of the same words: energetic, responsible, self-assured, a natural athlete, close to her family.

Cerak played volleyball, basketball and soccer in high school. In college, she was the life of the first-floor east wing at Olson Hall, a three-story red brick dorm where she was one of nearly 40 residents.

"Oh, gosh, she's the most amazing girl," says her college friend, Allie Jocson. "She has such a big heart. She made everyone feel welcome. She had this confidence about her. I always thought she was older."

Jocson says Cerak liked to crack jokes. She would quote movies right and left. For fun, she'd sometimes prance around in the dorm hallway wearing sweat pants and high heels. "She made everyone laugh if they were having a bad day," Jocson says.

Cerak is especially close to her sister, Carly, a junior who also lived in the dorm, but she had friends in practically every room. "She bonded with the girls, freshmen through seniors," says Shelley Casbarro, resident director of the dorm.

Cerak had a serious side, too: She was the one who'd wake a friend to make sure they got to their 8 a.m. Bible class on time, the one who would drag a pal to see Duster, a favorite band, then sit her down later to watch a sobering video about the plight of Ugandan children forced to become soldiers. Cerak was determined to raise money to help them.
Cerak also was passionate about the Saturdays she devoted to a nursing home ministry (she dressed up as a pirate for a Halloween party there) and enjoyed being around elderly people, says Jen Howard, another college friend.

She could fit in no matter where she was, Howard explains. "If you talked to her for two minutes, you felt like you knew her forever," she says. "I don't know how she did it."

Friends have similar fond memories of VanRyn. They describe an outgoing woman who attended church regularly and was always smiling and always on the go, whether it was playing guitar, singing at friends' weddings, working at a Bible camp or running to stay fit.

She, too, was an athlete, and excelled at soccer and volleyball in high school. She played lacrosse at Taylor and though she was petite, she was a strong, agile player and was one of the team's captains and coaches, says Kerry Porter, a college friend and teammate.


"She'd always be there early," Porter says. "She'd lead by example. She was a good person to look up to. ... She was very responsible."
VanRyn majored in communication studies, with a minor in public relations and had just completed a senior class paper about an Adidas campaign. Donna Downs, an assistant professor who teaches journalism and was her academic adviser, says VanRyn's keen sense of observation stood out in her writing.

"She was very descriptive and had kind of a knack for explaining things," Downs says, recalling one particular assignment in which VanRyn wrote about her grandfather.

Friends also say VanRyn was very tight with her family — including her brother, Mark, who attended Taylor for a few years. They all had nicknames for one another. One of hers was "Sweets," says Brad Klaver, a friend at Taylor.

Klaver says he and his three housemates often got together with VanRyn and her three housemates, shopping for Christmas trees and having Saturday morning pancake breakfasts; she'd always bring a bottle of syrup.

"She was always ready to have a conversation with people. ... Her laugh was contagious. She was just someone you'd want to be around," he says.

On Sunday, Klaver and others will attend a memorial service and share their favorite recollections of Laura VanRyn. Her family will exhume her body, which was buried April 30 about 150 miles away — under a tombstone with Cerak's name.

About 1,400 people gathered then to say goodbye to Whitney Cerak. Now some of those same people will travel here to reunite with their friend, reclaimed from death.
"We're all praying for the VanRyn family. We know what they've been going though," says Jocson, Cerak's college friend. "I'm also praying for Whitney's recovery. ... We never thought we'd see her again."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060603/...ictims_profile

[KBay84]

Unfortunately, with the damage and swelling from the trauma, and the mistaken identification from friends, I can see how this happened.

I ponder upon a point or two; if identification is given, is further (i.e. DNA) ID required? I wonder if we have some E.R. trauma/coroner experience in the house here that can lend their experience...