Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope (edit title)

• Rated 5 stars

“What strength these two families have. Written from both sides of the story you feel the joy and the pain of what happens when identities are mistaken. I loved this book but if you are emotional like me have the tissues handy.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Very interesting- can't believe this actually happened!”

• Rated 4 stars

“Surreal.... I cannot imagine their nightmare, they truly have FAITH....AND BELIEF !”

• Rated 4 stars

“I really enjoyed this book. It is non-fiction so if you dont enjoy non-fiction you might not like it, but maybe you should try a new thing.It is what happens when your parents mistake you for there own for five weeks. What happens when you are told your daughter is dead dont look at the body. It is a great story and also very sad.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Very amazing story about 2 girls whose identity was mistaken at a horrible car accident that took 7 peoples lives. Despite this families realization (after 5 weeks of living with a false reality) the families chose to not harbor resentment or anger on anyone such as the campus faculty who wrongly identified the girls, each family for not knowing sooner the identity of their children, or God for letting something so tragic happen to them. The actual accident survivor Whitney Cerac has done an amazing amount of recovery but as the frontal lobe of the brain was damaged, has a slightly different personality. I love the optimism of Whitney for seeing this tragedy as an opportunity for a different life God has planned for her with her new experience and identity.

It was fascinating to read about Whitney's recovery process and how the brain when damaged/traumatized reorganizes all of the information mixed up. I loved reading about the support from each family, especially (deceased) Carly's sister who was uncertain about the identity of the girl she was helping but still wanted the very best for this girls recovery, despite she not being her sister. It was so great to see how the community came together and supported the families who lost students and also those who supported Carly/Whitney in the recovery process.

As for literary value, parts of the book were a little too drawn out and repetitive. The ghost writer should have been on top of that as understandably, the ones telling the story weren't professional writers. The story pretty much told itself though. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“I loved this book! It was such a good story.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Excellent reading.”

• Rated 5 stars

“I think that this is probably one of the best true stories I have ever read. It shows how ones faith in God can keep them going strong for Him no matter what sorrow they are facing.”

• Rated 3 stars

“ A very emotional and inspiring read, although there were times I was sidetracked by the religious references. I understand that both families used their faith to get them through this devastating time, but I didn't realize that was going to be the basis of the story when I started.

That said, though, this is a really good story. I recommend reading it along with Jacquelyn Mitchard's ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN, which, although not drawn specifically from this story, shares several similarities and is a wonderful book.”

• Rated 5 stars

“ Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

Everyone saw the news splashed across the headlines or on the evening news reports. The wrong family was sitting beside a recovering girl in the hospital. How could it have happened? Read MISTAKEN IDENTITY to get the inside account from the two families that were involved in the unbelievable story.

The story seems straight out of the movies, almost too hard to fathom. But the Van Ryn and Cerak families, aided by Mark Tabb, tell the story of how Whitney and Laura were misidentified and two families dealt with both joy and sorrow with the help of their unerring faith in God.

Laura and Whitney were both students at Taylor University, a Christian college in Indiana. There were both in a school van on their way back to campus from a banquet with a few other people. A tractor trailer crossed the median and hit the side of the van, plowing it onto the side of the road. "Laura" was thrown 50-feet from the van. When rescue workers found her, a purse and ID nearby said that it was Laura Van Ryn. The photo on the ID looked enough like her. Thus began a five-week trial for both families.

The Cerak family received a call that Whitney had died in the accident. An employee from the university had identified her for the family. Colleen couldn't bring herself to look at the empty shell of what was left of Whitney, knowing in her heart that the true spirit of Whitney was now standing before God. Had Colleen gone and identified the body, would the error have been caught on the first night? No one knows.

The entire story is a bunch of "what ifs" by both families. Little things during "Laura's" recovery made family and friends question and wonder when "Laura" would return to her full self. But with the doctors and therapists constantly telling the Van Ryns that the neurons are firing but not necessarily connecting properly yet, no one gave it a serious second thought.

Only after "Laura" starts to come out of her coma and respond to therapy do the questions truly get raised. When a therapist asks "Laura" to write her name -- out came "W-H-I-T-N-E-Y." In the next few days, the pieces all come together, and a forensic dentist verifies the worst news for the Van Ryn family: this is not Laura after all.

What should be a story of loss for the Van Ryn family is a story of unerring faith. They are truly grateful for the time they spent with Whitney in the hospital. They are happy for the Ceraks' miracle and do not blame God.

The Cerak family went through grief but knew that Whitney had lived in God's love and was in a better place. They had sorrow, but knew that they would all see Whitney sometime in the future. When the call came that she may still be alive, Carly, Whitney's sister, would not believe it. Not until she saw with her own eyes did she believe the miracle that Whitney was still alive.

The story is so uplifting in the true belief both families have in God, that even in the time of sorrow they both experienced, the reader never once felt truly sad. The Van Ryn and Cerak families are both truly exceptional families. They are unwavering in their faith and love in God. They are both wonderful examples of a life lived to the fullest.
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