Laura woke up feeling exhausted and confused. Why was she in the hospital? What had happened to her?
Then, suddenly, she looked at her parents and shouted, "This is all your fault!" They were in for a rude awakening...
Whitney
"Whitney was a very remarkable young lady. I know I'm biased because I'm her mother, but she was so much fun to be around. She had a way of making people feel special," Whitney's mother, Colleen, recalls. "She made us feel unique."
It was 9 PM, and Whitney and her friend, Laura, were waiting for the bus.
A Car Accident
The girls' families were waiting for them at home, with dinner on the table. But sadly, the two friends never made it home that day.
They soon learned that their school bus had been involved in a terrible accident, killing five children and injuring the rest.
The Aftermath
The survivors were taken to the nearest hospital. When the girls' families received the horrible news, all they could think was, "Please, God, help my daughter."
Laura was in a coma, but her friend, Whitney, had passed away. Her mother burst into tears after the doctors shared the devastating news. "NOO! Please...NOO!" she shouted, falling to the ground.
Devastated
Whitney's family was so devastated by the news that they couldn't go to see their daughter's body.
"I couldn't look at the body because I was too upset. So they took me back to a different room and handed me her purse," Whitney's sister, Carly, recalls.
"I Was Too Upset"
"Even the sight of it was horrifying. It was filthy and smelled like fuel. And everything within it was shattered," she continued.
"They also claimed that the purse was discovered adjacent to the body. That's exactly what happened to Whitney, based on how it smelled and looked. And it was pretty difficult."
"My Heart Was Full Of Love"
In the meantime, Laura's family was praying for her fast recovery. Her mother, Susie, started writing down her thoughts as she cared for her daughter.
"My heart was so full of love for you when they brought us in to see you, honey," she wrote.
"My Lovely Sunshine Girl"
"It was almost too much for me to watch my lovely sunshine girl hooked up to tubes," she continued.
"When I am so feeble, it amazes me that God has such strength. Only he could uphold me as he has." But would her daughter make a full recovery?
Awake
Laura woke up from come a few weeks later. But when she opened her eyes, she was confused by what she saw surrounding her.
She couldn't remember what had happened to her on the day of the accident. And she had no idea who were the strangers surrounding her. It scared her.
"False Parents"
The people in the room were treating Laura like she was their daughter. But she had no idea who they were and what they wanted from her.
She looked at Susie and Don and said, "False parents!" What did she mean by that?
Shocked
Don and Susie were in complete shock. What was she talking about? Why would she say such words to them?
Laura's sister came close to her and asked who she thought her parents were. "Newell and Colleen!" Laura responded.
Not Laura
That's when everything started to make sense. It wasn't Laura. Susie and Don had also noticed that the girl in a coma had a navel piercing.
As far as they knew, their daughter didn't have one. So who was this mysterious girl then?
It's Whitney
It was Whitney. At first, her parents thought that someone was playing a prank on them.
"Whoever this is, I don't know why they're doing this, but this isn't real. Like there's no -- I knew for sure there was no way that Whitney was alive," Carly said.
A Miracle
But when Whitney's family arrived at the hospital and looked at the girl lying in that bed, they instantly recognized her. The Ceraks couldn't believe their luck!
Unfortunately, it turned out that Laura had been killed in the accident.
A Terrible Mistake
Laura had been mistaken for her friend and had been buried in the cemetery near the Cerak's house.
Her body was then buried again. But this time, near her family's home.