Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope

Meet Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak: one buried under the wrong name, one in a coma and being cared for by the wrong family.

This shocking case of mistaken identity stunned the country and made national news. Would it destroy a family? Shatter their faith? Push two families into bitterness, resentment, and guilt?

Read this unprecedented story of two traumatized families who describe their ordeal and explore the bond sustaining and uniting them as they deal with their bizarre reversal of life lost and life found.

And join Whitney Cerak, the sole surviving student, as she comes to terms with her new identity, forever altered, yet on the brink of new beginnings.

Mistaken Identity weaves a complex tale of honesty, vulnerability, loss, hope, faith, and love in the face of one of the strangest twists of circumstances imaginable.

The Van Ryn family — Don, Susie, Lisa, Kenny, and Mark — of Grand Rapids, Michigan shares an avid interest in outdoor recreation. Don and Susie, married for thirty years, are leaving their chosen professions to dedicate themselves full time to an outdoor camping experience for youth in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Lisa is pursuing a career in physical therapy, and Kenny lives and works in Southern California. Mark is recently married and resides in the Detroit area.

Despite the sorrow surrounding the passing of their daughter Laura,the family continues to be involved in the work of their local church and community. The Cerak family — Newell, Colleen, Carly, Whitney and Sandra Sepulveda — lives in northern Michigan, where Newell is a youth pastor and Colleen is a PE teacher and coach.

Carly graduated from Taylor University and has lived in Africa for the last six months starting a new ministry to street kids.

Sandra took a year from Grand Valley State University and joined with Invisible Children to bring awareness of the plight of children in Uganda. She is currently back at GVSU finishing her nursing degree.

Whitney is now a junior at Taylor University majoring in psychology. She is confident in God's healing and the revelation of the Holy Spirit in her life.

Mark Tabb has authored and co-authored over twenty books, including Living with Less, the Upside of Downsizing Your Life (B&H), and the 2004 Gold Medallion finalist, Out of the Whirlwind (B&H). He also collaborated with Stephen Baldwin on the New York Times bestseller, The Unusual Suspect (FaithWords). Mark is currently working with Alec Baldwin on his book, A Promise to Ourselves (St. Martin’s Press).

Prologue

1 THE EXCHANGE

2 APRIL 26, 2006

3 ICU

4 COMING TO GRIPS WITH A NEW REALITY

5 WAITING

6 COMFORT IN THE MIDST OF PAIN

7 FROM FORT WAYNE TO SYDNEY AND EVERY POINT IN BETWEEN

8 FIRST MILESTONE

9 "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WHITNEY"

10 TURNING A CORNER

11 A CELEBRATION OF LIFE

12 "HI"

13 "LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN"

14 WAKING UP

15 MISTAKEN IDENTITY

16 TELLING THE FAMILY

17 BACK FROM THE DEAD

18 HOPE IN TRAGEDY

19 AFTER THE HURRICANE

20 FAST FORWARD

21 MOVING AHEAD

Epilogue from Whitney

In Honor of Those Lost

Acknowledgments