Review Stadium

Mistaken Identity

by Don & Susie Van Ryn

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.

Reviews from Amazon:

• I couldn’t put this book down. It was such a compelling read that I kept turning page after page wanting to know what came next…eventhough I already knew how it ended. It is beautifully written, almost like reading a fiction book, and yet, of course, frightenly real. It is tragic that this actually happened, but I’m thankful to each family that they have chosen to tell their story. To share with us the grace and mercy, and abundant love that these two families have for one another. They have been a wonderful example of how we, too, can love and forgive, and have compassion towards one another when life doesn’t play out how we would like. This book makes me want to live a deeper faith-filled life and always love and have faith…no matter what!

• At the time I am writing this review, I see there are no reviews lower than a “5″. For those of you who want a more objective view, or those who want a different point of view from a person who isn’t an evangelical Christian, this one is for you.Like many readers I was mesmerized by this story, first hearing of it when it happened and then more recently when it received more media attention on Dateline, Oprah, and via People magazine coinciding with the publication of the book. How could this have happened? How did the families react? How is Whitney doing? All these questions were answered by the media yet I wanted to know more and was glad to see the book was available for download on my Kindle. The Van Ryns and Ceraks seem like such nice people who are truly living their faith. Even in their grief how they were able to reach out to one another was really amazing. We should all learn from how they handled this tragic situation. That said, I wanted to know more about Whitney’s brain injury itself and other than the first five weeks, the TBI portion was really not covered in very much detail.These families are the epitome of Christian kindness. In a world where evangelical Christians sometimes have a negative connotation, where they say they pray but their actions seem to be full of hypocrisy, these people really do walk the walk and talk the talk. When I see those buttons that say “WWJD” these are the people who definitely I would think of.

  However, although well written, the families use so much praise and prayer in their story that they end up alienating the readers who could really benefit from the message. Another sore spot with me was that they did a lot of bragging about the people that evidently became Christians due to this tragedy. Does that make them somehow feel better? The story itself really gets bogged down in all the religion. To some readers this is a positive point, to others like myself who considers themself spiritual rather than religious, this was way overdone. I found myself skimming many parts - making this a very quick read.

  For those who are interested in a book detailing more about traumatic brain injury, I highly recommend Where is the Mango Princess by Cathy Crimmins who details her husband’s TBI in detail and how it affected her family. I would recommend Mistaken Identity to evangelical Christians who aren’t concerned about details of traumatic brain injury itself. I am glad that I didn’t pay full price for this book, instead being able to download it on my Kindle. I can see where a person who could easily be put-off by the overtly Christian overtones of this book would send it flying across the room despite the fact that this is a truly amazing story and these are wonderful people who I applaud for being as caring as they were in a time of such tragedy. I think that it doesn’t take a Christian to be able to react this way, genuine caring human beings of any faith or no faith at all may have done the same thing.

  Just an aside, it will be really interesting to see how many “not helpful” votes I get for this review from people who just don’t agree with me because I dared write a negative review on this book, because I dared be anti-Christian when I am truly just trying to be helpful and give people another version in order for them to make an educated decision before spending their hard-earned money on a book.

• If you can think what is the most outrageous unbelievable story you heard in your lifetime, it has to be this; the daughter you buried is not yours, and the injured daughter you nursed for five weeks was not yours. Although tragedies often evolve into miracles, this combination was never meant to be.After a tragic accident on an Indiana highway, two blond girls of similar features were mistaken for one another. Whitney Cerak lived but was comatose, while Laura Van Ryn actually died, but was sent to the hospital to be treated. Misidentification! It was a result coroner’s carelessness, and with that, unimaginable consequences upon two families.The book, written with help of author Mark Tabb, starts with the section about the events of discovery, on the Cerak’s part, that their daughter may be alive. Then, the story begins and reveals extensive detail of care by the Van Ryns who believed their daughter was alive, but was hurt badly. This is simple and non-pretentious writing, because it is merely your average God-loving families with deep religious faith.

  Connecting with the readers
  As you read, you begin to really understand the two families, their feelings, fears, surprises, stamina, hope, faith, etc. And if you are unfamiliar with their dedicated passages, you too, can learn and be inspired. Read Laura’s sister Lisa’s amazing faithful internet blog for updates and then you have Susie Van Ryn’s touching prayer journal. Learn about the emotional passages said during the Cerak funeral.

  Compassionate People
  You will learn the true compassion of strangers, the offering of the Samaritan house to the Van Ryns; the couple who owned the pizza shop and brought so much pizza and bottled water to ICU. You will hear how the Van Ryns were surprised their neighbors cut the grass while the family was bedside to Laura. You will learn how the Ceraks through their grief received so many flowers, food, cookies, notes, cards and how they sat and listened intently to each of many phone messages offering comfort.

  False Parents
  I had to laugh at what Don Van Ryn said when he learned that his Laura referred to them as false parents. With that, you feel compassion for this family as they wrestled with the phrase “false parents.”

  And then, share in the exchange of discovery that changed their lives, and the miracle of the Ceraks that could only be dreadful tragedy for the Van Ryns.

  This is a wonderful story that Hollywood could not have dreamed up! I have children, I feel for these amazing people, all of them.

Get Mistaken Identity today!

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