When a community encounters a great loss, it usually comes closer together. In this extraordinary example, a family was attending to their daughter who suffered serious injuries in an accident, when they sensed that things weren't right. Something was off and doctors couldn’t tell them what it was. After a long period of recuperating and healing, the woman was finally able to speak to them and said something that became truly mind-blowing, and managed to shock them all. Read on to discover what it was, and the details of this unique story.

Laura's Life Was About to Change Forever

Taylor University is one of the oldest private Christian colleges in the U.S. Many of the students come from a strong Christian background and behave altruistically. However, the school is coping with a tragedy… Laura Van Ryn was completing her last year at Taylor University when she and the life of her family changed forever. When she was twenty-two-years-old, she was popular among her classmates, she participated in many campus activities, mainly ones that revolved around social welfare. A trip to Fort Wayne was planned and she really wanted to go!

That Fateful Day in April

Laura and eight other students got into a van and took a trip down to Fort Wayne. Laura asked a few of her friends to join her, but they refused. At retrospect, it was a wise decision… 4.26.2006 was a very fateful day. Fort Wayne was an hour drive from the school. The volunteers worked all day to prepare the banquet and left with plans to return late at night. The scholarship employees appreciated their hard work and everyone felt happy and contented about their good deeds.

Nothing Will Ever Be The Same Again

The students were feeling great about themselves driving back to campus. It’s sad to know that their lives would soon change forever on what was supposed to be a fun trip… After a long day's work, most of them fell asleep while a few stayed up to have a chat. The trip was just an hour, but it felt a lot longer and they just wanted to stay in bed! Many looked forward to seeing their parents and sharing their experiences with them. Not all of them got the chance.

Tragedy Struck

Laura’s parents decided to wait up for their daughter to return home since they knew how genuinely excited she was about the trip! They felt proud of their daughter. Her altruistic actions and her desire to help others made her parents feel blessed. They were clueless about the tragedy they'll soon encounter. They were only a mile or two from campus when the horrific accident happened. A truck crossed over the centerline of the road and smashed straight into the van with the college students inside. The faulty driver fell asleep behind the wheel. The scene of the accident seemed horrendous.

A Very Grisly Scene

The van was badly damaged and was left on the crash bit of the intersection, the truck was totally smashed and in the middle of the street. It was an extremely dreadful crash. Bystanders soon called for help. The scene was too grisly for anyone to walk into, so they had to wait until EMT's arrived. Sadly, most of the students died on impact. A few were still alive and conscious. They hurried to save lives while witnesses watched in fear. The scene was very messy and bloody.

Five People Died

Personal belongings were spread all over the grass. EMT’s determined that five people died in the crash: Laurel Erb, Monica Felver, Elizabeth Smith, Bradley Larson, and Whitney Cerak. The remaining four survivors were taken to the hospital, Lauren Van Ryn was one of them. Robert Spencer was the truck driver who fell asleep and crossed the central line. Five people died because of him – he was arrested immediately after the accident and was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty. He said that he knew it was something that will haunt him forever.

A Phone Call Every Parent Fears

Laura was rushed to the hospital and treated for awful head injuries and internal bleeding. Susie and Don, her mom and dad, arrived at the hospital quickly after they heard the news. Laura’s sister, Lisa, said that she was at her parents' house and her mom told her that they received a phone call letting them know that Laura was involved in an accident. They didn't know how serious the accident really was. Actually, there was a lot they didn't know yet regarding the tragic incident.

There Was Nothing the Doctors Could Do

When Laura got to the hospital, she was unconscious. She was rushed into surgery and attempts were made to save her life. As a Christian family, they believed that praying would help their daughter recover. Lisa started writing a blog focusing on what her family was going through… But, her writings weren't the reason why the story turned viral. Despite numerous surgeries, Laura wasn’t getting any better. The doctor offered that Laura would go home and rest there since there wasn't anything else they could do… She simply needed to rest.

When the Impossible Happened

The accident affected the entire community and many were just devastated by the tragedy. Many proposed to help the survivors who endured terrible injuries. Some helped pay for funeral arrangements for the poor students who died in the accident. Funeral plans were made… But, nobody could've imagined the thing that happened next. After a few days, Laura did the impossible: She opened her eyes. She seemed to be responding a little bit but wasn't able to speak. Her family was filled with joy but knew there was still a long way ahead.

Why Was She Panicking?

Laura was always surrounded by family as she was getting better. She wasn't talking yet and was only able to move a finger or two, so she was in need of close care. But there was one thing that troubled. Something wasn't right about Laura's behavior. Days went by, and Laura started vocalizing somethings, her family couldn't understand her. She wasn't able to enunciate and mumbled unclearly. Her mom felt that she was really making an effort to speak like she has something urgent to say, at times it looked as if she was panicking.

The Mysterious Message

Lisa sat by her sister’s side just to spend time with her and then Laura started whispering something to her. Lisa tried her best but couldn't make sense of what she was saying. Laura repeated herself again and again. Lisa was finally able to understand some of what she was saying - false parents. Lisa immediately told her mother what she heard and she didn't know what to make of it and thought that perhaps it was just random words that Laura was uttering… She told about it to her husband, who found it alarming. They rang the doctor and informed him about the situation, the doctor wasn't worried and said that it's probably related to her brain trauma.

Reasons To Suspect

Laura's family remained optimistic about her beating her injuries, but they were now also worried about the words that came out of her mouth. They got even more worried as Laura was getting better. Laura's mom, Susie, saw her yawn. It wasn’t all that weird but Susie thought that her daughters’ teeth looked slightly bigger. She also noticed that one of her piercings was gone. It made sense that emergency personnel removed it, but even the hole wasn't there anymore. Susie became more and more suspicious.

Felt It In Their Bones

Despite the odd things that Susie started noticing, Laura started doing very well in her recovery. Her voice was getting clearer, but it was still hard to understand her. She was even able to move her arms and legs. As she was healing, Susie and Don's feeling that something was wrong grew stronger. They felt that something about Laura was inherently different. But they couldn't say exactly what it was. They thought it was possible that after such an awful car accident, one can change a lot. But there was something else to it. They felt it in their bones that something was off, and they decided to do something about it.

Who Was Whitney??

Susie and Dawn sat next to Laura’s bed and gave her a pen and a piece of paper. They wanted to know if she could write her name… They were heartbroken after she did. She wrote down ‘Whitney' instead of Laura. Don and Susie were shocked… Time stood still. They didn't know who was the girl in the bed, and where the real Laura was. They couldn't take it. They just had to get their answers as soon as possible. It was just the most awful case of mistaken identity.

How Did This Happen?

Don and Susie told the news to Whitney’s parents’ Colleen and Newell. Don found it difficult to speak when he was trying to tell her parents. There was silence until Newell accused Don of playing a cruel joke on him, but this was the reaction Don was expecting. He convinced Newell that he was telling the truth and that he had to come immediately. How did this mistake happen? Some blondes look like each other, but this was still quite a stretch. Who did such an awful mistake? People’s lives were toyed with! Who was so careless?

Their Girl Was Alive!!

The person examining the bodies at the scene of the accident was the one who made the mistake. The scene of the accident was so terrible that personal belongings were spread all over the place. Laura’s ID card was next to Whitney’s body, and that's how they identified her. Their faces were bruised so badly and that's why the officer made the crucial mistake. Whitney's parents and her sister broke down in tears when they saw she was alive. It was a very emotional moment - one family grieving while the other one rejoicing.

What's It Like To Have A Funeral While You're Still Alive?

The two families became close, especially since Laura's family took care of Whitney who is forever indebted to them. They treated her with love as if it was their daughter since they thought she was their daughter but even after they knew she didn't, they still treated her like family.  Whitney heard about the funeral that was held for her. She heard that her sister said that she didn't shower enough and that one of her pastors said that she wasn't good at sports, they never imagined she'd confront them about it…