Heartrending New Details in Taylor Accident

This blog requested prayer for Laura VanRyn, cousin of a member at Winona Lake, (IN) Grace Brethren Church, believed to be in a coma after the tragic accident. The following notice from the website of Taylor University gives details:

“All of us know the pain we have experienced over the past five weeks since that tragic evening during which we lost five members of our community – four students and one staff member – in an accident on I-69. As deeply as we have grieved these respective losses, the feelings of pain and sorrow we have experienced pale in comparison to the pain experienced by their respective families and loved ones.

“This morning, we learned from the Grant County Coroner’s Office that there has been a case of mistaken identity involving two of the young women involved in the accident. We had believed that Laura VanRyn was airlifted to Parkview Hospital and has recently begun to emerge from the coma she was in since the night of the accident. The Coroner’s office has notified us that Laura was instead one of the five people who died that evening and that it was Whitney Cerak who was airlifted to Parkview and is today convalescing at a hospital in Grand Rapids, MI.

“One can only imagine what impact this new development has had upon the VanRyn and Cerak families as they process this information. Taylor University is cooperating fully with the Coroner’s Office.

“We ask that prayers be offered for the VanRyn and Cerak families, and also for the families of Laurel Erb, Monica Felver, Brad Larson, Betsy Smith, as well as the Taylor Community including students, faculty, staff and administrators deeply affected by this development.”