In April 2006, a tired driver fell asleep at the wheel on an Indiana highway. His semi-trailer drove into the oncoming lane – and swept away a van in which several students were on their way to a big party.
Five of the nine people in the van were killed: four students and one adult chaperone.
The accident was so horrific that the bodies of the dead were difficult to identify, and the survivors were seriously injured and sent to the hospital for a long time.
Among the victims was Whitney Cherak, who had a birthday four days later. Her parents, who were horrified by the news of their daughter’s death, held the funeral on the very day Whitney was supposed to celebrate her 18th birthday.
Similar in appearance to Whitney, Laura Van Reen of the same van, survived but fell into a coma. Because of severe injuries to her head and torso, Laura was almost completely bandaged up and did not regain consciousness.
After Laura’s awakening, the strangest things began to happen.
Laura had not regained consciousness for more than two weeks, during which time she had undergone several surgical procedures. Her condition was slowly, but still improving.
Her whole family was by her bedside, they did not leave her side for a minute: her father and mother and her younger brother and sister. All of them supported Laura in every way they could, talking to her and praying.
After two weeks, Laura gradually began to regain consciousness. At first, she opened her eyes only briefly, but already then, her relatives noticed many unusual things.
The girl would not respond to the name “Laura,” kept calling out for someone named Hunter and did not recognize her parents.
The doctors hastened to calm her down: “She has a serious head injury, her brain has not yet recovered – so she is not herself, but it will pass soon,” – so they said.
But after a couple of days the girl’s behavior became a mystery to the local doctors as well. Her consciousness had already recovered and she was definitely in her right mind – but she still didn’t recognize her loved ones, insisting that her name was Whitney, and Laura, she said, was a completely different girl.
And it really turned out to be Whitney Cherak.
After verification, it turned out that the coroner, so as not to further traumatize the loved ones, had not allowed relatives to identify the bodies. Each of the students was wearing a nametag, so we knew who was who.
But the coroner didn’t consider that the girls could have mixed up their nametags before they even got into the car. In addition, Laura and Whitney looked alike: both were blond, thin, athletic. True, Laura was a few centimeters taller, but no one noticed.
What happened next?
A lot of screaming, crying, threats, and confusion.
The Van Ryn family, who had already suspected for days that it was not their daughter on the bed, lost all hope. It was a terrible blow to each of them. They didn’t comment for a while afterwards, but a couple of years later they did meet with the Cherak family and talked at length.
By 2019, Whitney is married, a mother of three and living life to the fullest. Her wedding was held at the same church as her funeral. Whitney herself sees this as positive symbolism.