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Shocking But True - This Could Happen To You Too?
06 June, 2006
Mourners Remember Girl in Mistaken ID Case
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Jun 4, 9:12 PM (ET)
By JAMES PRICHARD
"This
week, we were introduced to a concept that can only be called
retroactive grieving," the Rev. Andy Smith of Forest Hills Bible Chapel
said.
VanRyn's
parents did not begin to question whether she was actually their
daughter until, as she regained consciousness, she started saying
things that did not make sense to them, including referring to VanRyn's
father by a pet name he did not recognize.
By JAMES PRICHARD
|
KENTWOOD, Mich. (AP) - For five weeks, he sat by her hospital bed, talked to her, held her hand. During those many hours together, Aryn Linenger said he never doubted that he was comforting his beloved girlfriend of three years, Laura VanRyn.
"I saw her hands, her feet, her complexion, and I can't believe that it wasn't her," Linenger said during a memorial service for her Sunday at Kentwood Community Church. "Even to this day, it's amazing to me that with all that time we spent together, that I just didn't know."
VanRyn's family and friends were thankful she had survived the van crash that killed five people until it was revealed last week there had been a terrible mix-up.
The young
woman recovering in a Grand Rapids rehabilitation center for more than
a month was not VanRyn but Whitney Cerak, a fellow Taylor University
student who closely resembled VanRyn.
VanRyn's
family planned to exhume the 22-year-old college senior's body, which
was buried April 30 under a tombstone with Cerak's name.
"She brought more joy to us than we could ever imagine," her older brother Kenny VanRyn told the 1,900 people at the memorial service.
Lisa
VanRyn had maintained a Web log about the hospitalized woman who she
believed was her sister before Cerak's family took over the journal
last week.
"I hope that in whatever time I have left here, I have come close to loving people the way that she did," Lisa VanRyn said.
Members of VanRyn's congregation also prayed for her and her family during a church service earlier Sunday.
|
Members of Cerak's family, however, "have experienced a resurrection of sorts, and we can rejoice with them," he said.
About 180 miles to the north in Cerak's hometown of Gaylord, about 1,000 worshippers at Gaylord Evangelical Free Church offered prayers and listened Sunday as the Rev. Jim Mathis described the reunion between Cerak and her parents after the mistake was discovered.
"I saw a scene from heaven," Mathis said, his voice choking with emotion. "I'll never be the same, folks."
Cerak, who bore a resemblance to VanRyn, was in a coma until recently and suffered a swollen face and broken bones, cuts and bruises and brain injuries in the crash.
|
She replied "Whitney" several times after VanRyn's parents addressed her as "Laura," Anne Veltema, a spokeswoman with Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Mich., said last week. Dental records conclusively confirmed the mix-up Wednesday.
Linenger offered an apology to the woman he believed was his girlfriend in case his attention after the accident left her feeling confused.
"I want you to know that I still pray for that girl," he said during his 17-minute eulogy. "From day one, I said that she was a miracle child."
---
Associated Press writer John Flesher in Gaylord contributed to this report.Comments
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