From Associated Press:
(AP) A family sat by their daughter's hospital bedside for weeks after an auto accident before they realized that the blond-haired young woman was not their daughter after all, but another college student injured in the wreck.
Their own daughter, it turned out, was dead and buried.
In a tragic mix-up, one family was incorrectly told their daughter had died in the April 26 crash in Indiana, while another was erroneously informed their daughter was in a coma.
The two young women looked remarkably alike. The one in a coma suffered facial swelling, broken bones and cuts and bruises, and was in a neck brace.
The family of Taylor University student Laura VanRyn, 22, disclosed the mix-up Wednesday on a Web log that they had used to record detailed updates on the young woman's recovery.
"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 Taylor student of hers, Whitney Cerak," the VanRyns said on the blog.
The family said that as the young woman began regaining consciousness at a rehabilitation center in Grand Rapids, Mich., 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."
Officials at Taylor University, an evangelical Christian college in Upland, Ind., about 60 miles from 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.
Four Taylor students and an employee were killed when their van was struck by a tractor-trailer that had drifted across a highway median. Those in the van worked for Taylor's dining services and were preparing for a banquet for the inauguration of a new president of the 1,850-student school.
It was not clear who mistakenly identified the victims or how the error happened. The coroner's office did not immediately return a call. But the VanRyns, who are from Caledonia, Mich., said their daughter and Cerak, 18, of Gaylord, Mich., bore an "uncanny resemblance."
Most of the crash victims had funerals with closed caskets. A month ago, an overflow crowd of more than 1,400 people turned out for what they thought was Cerak's funeral in Gaylord, Mich.
The VanRyn family used the blog to provide progress reports on the young woman, reporting, example, that her hair was in pigtails or braids, that she managed to feed herself some applesauce, that she played a game of "connect four" with one of the therapists and did quite well, and that she performed an exercise in which her therapist gave her a word and she had to supply the word's opposite.
A call to the VanRyns was not immediately returned. 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.
OOPS...my bad
Moderator: Dictators in Training
That hecka sucks. Also, some trucking companies push and push their drivers and don't allow them sufficient time to rest, and then the truckers have to falsify their logs. A lot of truckers have fallen asleep behind the wheel and caused major accidents and fatalities. I think it's the trucking companies, who push their drivers beyond their limits, that should be held liable and responsible for when tragedies like this occur. Unless of course the trucker was on drugs or something, or doing something else against company policy.
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
Drem wrote:Fuck you I'm from LA and we don't say that gay shit. You're not fucking cool or hip Mindia, stop trying to be
Everybody in the younger generation says "hella" or "hecka" in LA. I went to San Diego state, and spent a lot of time in LA. I have lots of friends in LA. If you don't hear "hella" or "hecka" a lot, and you claim to live in SoCal, then you don't get out of the house much.
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
Darcler wrote:True Fact #30
Fish have eyelids.
"Hella" was made popular by some South Park episode. At least popular in the rest of the US.
Oh, and then some No Doubt song.
We were saying "hella" before South Park was even a concept in the twisted minds of Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
Narrock wrote:Drem wrote:Fuck you I'm from LA and we don't say that gay shit. You're not fucking cool or hip Mindia, stop trying to be
Everybody in the younger generation says "hella" or "hecka" in LA. I went to San Diego state, and spent a lot of time in LA. I have lots of friends in LA. If you don't hear "hella" or "hecka" a lot, and you claim to live in SoCal, then you don't get out of the house much.
"hecka" ??????????? what??????????? i've never heard anybody say this ever in my entire life, from LA to chicago
Drem wrote:Narrock wrote:Drem wrote:Fuck you I'm from LA and we don't say that gay shit. You're not fucking cool or hip Mindia, stop trying to be
Everybody in the younger generation says "hella" or "hecka" in LA. I went to San Diego state, and spent a lot of time in LA. I have lots of friends in LA. If you don't hear "hella" or "hecka" a lot, and you claim to live in SoCal, then you don't get out of the house much.
"hecka" ??????????? what??????????? i've never heard anybody say this ever in my entire life, from LA to chicago
I suppose you don't wear VANS either...
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
The Kizzy wrote:Its dumber than saying wicked cool
"Wicked cool" is probably something you'd hear from younger kids 8-12 years old I'm guessing. About 3 years ago, my girlfriend at the time and I, were walking along this creek that fed Lake Tahoe. About 500 feet up from the road were these two kids trying to catch huge tadpoles in a big stagnant pool in an alcove of the creek. One kid said to the other, "HE WAS RIGHT THERE! WHY DIDN'T YOU CATCH HIM?" The other kid, around 8 years old, said "I couldn't... he was WICKED FAST!" LOL What the hell is that? Harry Potter jargon?
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein