>> that's all for now. from all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. i from all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. ' from all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. it wasn't supposed to happen. >> it began with one horrifying crash. five young people killed. five families in anguish. >> i just remember how helpless i felt. >> one survivor, identified as their daughter, laura. >> your heart just breaks. >> she lay helpless, critical. >> she's got tubes coming out everywhere. >> we could see this much of her face. >> 20 days in a coma and they never left her side. but in her long recovery, a mystery. her eyes seemed odd. so did her teeth. then she spoke. and her words stunned them all. >> i said can you tell me your name? and she said, whitney. >> whitney.

but their daughter was laura. who was this? a moment no one could foresee, a secret no one could believe. a daughter back from the dead. >> you've seen where your parents buried you. not many people can say that. two lives. >> how could this be happening? >> two families. >> that's my little girl. >> bound together by "a twist of fate." >> thanks for joining us. i'm matt lauer. unbelievable is a word you hear a lot on television. but there's no other word for the story we're about to bring you. it centers on a tragic event in the lives of two young women. look closely at both of them. keep their images in mind as you watch their stories unfold, and follow what will be a remarkable voyage of discovery for both their families, speaking out for the first time. >> i always feel like i lived a charmed life. great husband, two kids. had a nice job.

lived in a great town. you kind of almost feel like you're waiting for something to happen. >> do you ever question, suzy, how god could have let this happen? >> sure. you want to say that. and yet i don't have to look very far to see that it happens all the time. it happens everywhere. to anyone. and why should i be any different. >> this is a story about two families. on an emotional journey unlike anything you've seen before. it's a story of deep faith and undying love. and how both were tested to the limit by an almost unimaginable twist of fate.and how both were limit by an almost unimaginable twist of fate.

it begins with two lovely young women whose lives became intertwined forever on a cool spring evening, two years ago. laura van ryn was 22 at the time. her parents, don and suzy, living in caledonia, michigan. laura was the youngest of four children. she had an older sister, lisa and two brothers, kenny and mark. laura and her boyfriend aaron had been dating for three years. everybody knew they'd get married. what was she like as a child growing up? mom? >> happy. giggly, joyful, just loved being where everybody was. she was a lot of fun.v everybod. she was a lot of fun. liked everybody, everybody liked her because she was just real. and genuine. >> whitney cerak was 18. she grew up in gaylord, michigan, with her parents and her older sister carly. >> whitney was just an amazing girl.

i know i'm partial because i'm her mom. she was a lot of fun to be with. she made people feel special. she made us feel special. >> whitney was a freshman, laura a senior at taylor university. a small evangelical christian school in indiana. >> this sounds maybe quaint, but a real family feeling that you connected with so many other people there. >> laura and whitney were both outgoing and athletic with a wide circle of friends. they didn't know each other well, but one night they work ed together at taylor's fort wayne campus setting up a banquet. >> suzy, did you talk to laura that day? >> actually i had tried to call her phone between 8:00 and 8:30 that evening. i didn't get through. and so i thought, well, i'll call her later. >> how about you, lisa? >> we had been playing phone tag up to that day.

she left me a message, i believe, on their trip up to fort wayne. i didn't call her back. >> at about 8:00 p.m., their work done, laura and whitney, along with seven other students and staff members were riding in a school van heading south on interstate 69 toward the main campus. whitney's sister carly, also a student at taylor, was the first to hear that something was wrong. >> my friend ben drove up and told me that there was an accident and he thought that whitney was in it. so i called her cell phone and there was no answer. i started to kind of worry. i called her cell phone again and again. now i just started noticing people just kind of running around everywhere and coming up to me and talking to me and asking me if i had talked to whitney. >> did they talk about the severity of the accident at that time to you? >> i was hearing that people had died in the accident but not everyone had died. >> carly and whitney's mom was home in gaylord, a five-hour

drive away. their father was on a church trip in mississippi. carly tried to call them both. but couldn't get through at first. >> we were talking on the phone, about 10:00. newell kept on hearing that little beep on the phone. >> call waiting. someone was trying to get through. >> kind of ignored it because we just had a chance to catch up on what was going on. then she tried me. that's when -- she didn't talk long at all. she's like, mom, you need to pray. and -- so we -- i was kind of scared. i just started praying. >> at about the same time, laura van ryn's parents and sister were all at home in caledonia. their phone rang as well. >> someone said, is this the van ryn residence? i thought maybe it was a telemarketer or something. i was all ready to say, we're not interested. i think he said something like, we have your daughter, laura, in the hospital in ft. wayne.

she's been in an accident. it took me a second or so to kind of grasp that. then i just looked at don and i said i think you better get on the phone. >> he told us there had been an accident, a serious accident. and she was in critical condition and we would need to, you know, start making our way down there. >> within minutes they were speeding toward indiana, a 2 1/2 hour drive. they kept getting phone calls from the hospital and they struggled to grasp the severity of laura's injuries. >> she was unconscious is what they told us in the car. >> unconscious. right. did we know then that she had some broken bones, perhaps? >> probably. we knew then that she had a head injury because they were calling permission to put the spike, they call it, into her head that monitors her swelling or bleeding of the brain. so we gave them that permission, of course.

>> you're hours away and you're hearing about all these things that are happening because of the grave condition of your daughter. can you compare it to anything in your lives? >> i don't think so. no. >> you want to believe that accidents happen a lot. they're not always fatal. so that's what you're thinking. she's alive. they can fix this. and all you can say is, god, just take care of her, please. be with her and keep her alive. >> meanwhile, whitney's parents were still desperate for any news about their daughter. >> i was beside myself. i just -- i needed information, and i couldn't get it. i didn't want to tie up the phone because i knew i was hoping and praying colleen would get in touch with me. >> just pleaded, just pleaded with god. not whitney. >> what neither family knew yet was just how deadly the crash had been. a truck driver had lost control of his loaded semi. the big rig crossed the median

and sideswiped the taylor university van, ripping it open. the impact flung passengers and their belongings all over the interstate. five of the nine people on the van were killed instantly. they were transported to the county hospital. the four survivors all suffered injuries, some serious. one young woman had been thrown 50 feet from the wreckage. she was barely breathing and was quickly airlifted to the nearest trauma center, parkview hospital in ft. wayne. that's where laura van ryn's family was told to go. they arrived at about 1:15 in the morning. >> in the lobby right there there were a dozen or 15 of laura's friends, a couple roommates. we were greeted by them. >> greeted with tears, with hugs. >> oh, yeah. >> prayers. >> all of the above. >> they didn't know whether laura would survive the next few hours or if she'd ever be the same person again.

but for now, at least she was alive. whitney's mom was hoping and praying that her daughter had also survived. and then the phone rang. >> right. coming up -- difficult news about whitney and something puzzling about laura. >> we didn't recognize the shoes. we thought she must have been wearing someone else's shoes. >> a twist of fate continues in a moment. what makes the sleep number store different?

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whitney cerak's mother colleen had just heard that her daughter was one of nine people involved in a deadly crash on an indiana freeway.

she was desperate for news, hoping whitney had survived. then around 10:45 p.m., the call came. it was the coroner and the chaplain. can you as closely as possible remember exactly what they said to you on that phone call? >> i think they just told me that they were sorry that whitney was one of the victims in the accident, that she had died. i was just so sad. i just said thank you. i didn't really talk very long on the phone. i just wanted to get off. and talk to newell. so i just went back into the kitchen where i could be alone and talk to newell. so i called him right away. that was really hard. and at the time i just said i'm so sorry that whitney had died. >> newell, when you heard your wife's voice on the phone? >> of course, i was hoping for the best. when she goes, newell, i'm sorry, i don't remember much after that. i just remember saying, sorry she's gone.

and i just started crying like a baby. i just felt at a loss because i was so far from my wife and from carly, but it was -- it was devastating. >> whitney's father, newell, was on a church trip in mississippi, 1,000 miles away. now, someone had to tell their other daughter, carly, what had happened. the family pastor offered to make the call. >> he knew i was so heartbroken at that point it was hard for me to even talk to carly. >> as soon as i heard him i knew that it must mean that whitney wasn't alive. i remember just dropping the phone and just falling right there on the spot and crying. >> carly had rushed to marion, indiana, general hospital in hopes of finding out her sister was alive. now she was told whitney had been dead for hours. her body, just a few feet away. carly couldn't bear to look. >> i was too emotional to have

to see the body. so they just brought me back to a separate room and gave me her purse, which was horrible, even the sight of it. it smelled like gasoline. it was dirty. everything inside was snapped. they said the purse was found next to the body and just the way it smelled, the way it looked, that that's what happened to whitney. and it was really hard. >> newell was making arrangements to fly back from mississippi. colleen's pastor offered to drive her to indiana. five hours away. >> when you got to the hospital, if this were a movie, the mother or the father would have walked in and said, i know she's gone, but take me to see my little girl. >> you know, i have a beautiful picture of whitney in my head. i want -- i didn't -- >> yes. >> i keep stuff in my head.

i know that i couldn't -- i wanted a picture of whitney who was this beautiful, living, vibrant little girl instead of -- i would keep that picture in my head as opposed to, you know, a battered body. >> 50 miles away at parkview hospital, laura's parents and sister were steeling themselves, preparing to see her for the first time since she had been terribly injured in the crash. >> they had told us at that point, expect to see her in an altered state. she's got tubes coming out everywhere. you know, she's bruised up. >> she's not going to look like herself. >> not going to look like herself, right. >> so when you walked in the room? what did she look like? >> what did we see? >> well, a lot of things that were foreign, like machines and tubes, and, really, she was

wrapped to about here. we could see this much of her face. she had a blanket over her, and everything was wrapped up, and her eyes were closed. and a little bit of swelling it looked like and maybe some very minor cuts. but otherwise, her face was -- >> she had a tube. >> pretty intact. >> stuck in the side of her mouth, the respirator. >> yeah. >> so her mouth was pulled funny, and she had the tube in her head. >> how hard was it to see, suzy, to see your daughter in that state? >> sorry. >> that's all right. >> that was very hard. >> very hard. >> did you say anything to her? i know she couldn't talk to you. >> i -- i don't remember specifically saying anything to her. but your heart just breaks.

or aches to see your daughter. or your child lying there. helpless and you are helpless. helpless to fix her.and you are. helpless to fix her. >> you were handed a bag of her belongings. >> uh-huh. >> correct? >> uh-huh. >> did you recognize everything in the bag? >> the purse and her wallet. >> we didn't recognize the shoes, but we always borough clothes and share clothes, so we thought she smuft hamust have b wearing someone else's shoes. >> laura's mom, suzy, started a prayer journal, writings she intended to give her daughter to read when or if she recovered. >> when they brought us in to see you, honey, my heart was so full of love for you. to see my sweet, sweet sunshine girl hooked up to tubes was almost more than i could do. it amazes me that god has such

strength, when i am so weak. only he could uphold me as he has. >> while laura's family prepared for a long struggle to save their daughter, whitney's family couldn't yet bring themselves to say good-bye. on april 27th, the day after the crash, taylor university held a prayer service for the victims. whitney's mom colleen attended. >> they had the big projector screen, and they would flash the names of the different victims that had died. and then everybody in there was praying for that person on the screen. sorry i keep crying. i just remember the first time that they put whitney's name up there. i thought that i would really cry hard, but i felt just such at peace that every single person in there was praying for our family at that point.

i did really feel a real strength. >> did it also really sink in at that moment? >> everything -- just so much always seems surreal to us. you know, how could this be happening? >> whitney's father, newell, was having the same feelings as he flew back from mississippi. >> it was surreal. it seemed the world was going on and it should just stop because of the pain i was feeling. >> his wife and remaining daughter met him at the airport. >> it was very, very emotional. i came down the escalator, and there they were. no words were spoken. we just ran into each other's arms and started crying. >> did you pray together? >> oh, yeah, yeah we did. >> i don't remember praying. i remember holding onto newell and holding onto carly and just really feeling that security of just being together. i just needed to be together with them. >> they went back to whitney's dorm, picked up her belongings and started the long drive back home. on the way, they wrote whitney's obituary. >> whitney erin cerak, age 18 of

gaylord, died in a tragic car accident wednesday, april 26th, 2006, in marion, indiana. she lived a wonderful and full, but short life. she was a freshman at taylor university where she was growing in love and knowledge of her friend and savior, jesus christ. she is now living with him in heaven. >> while the ceraks tried to sum up whitney's life, the van ryns kept a round-the-clock vigil over the critically injured laura. the two families had never met, but their lives were already inextricably intertwined. coming up -- >> wake up, sweetie. i want to see your beautiful face. >> encouraging signs for laura. what revelations will her progress bring? "a twist of fate" continues in a moment. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit.

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friday, april 28, 2006. laura is currently in a comatose state and has been unconscious since the accident. this morning, she has made some small movements. >> two days after the crash, lisa van ryn started a blog to update friends, family, and the world about the condition of her sister, laura. >> her left leg, femur, and left elbow are broken and have been placed in casts. her right clavicle bone is broken also, and it is in a sling right now. she has some fractured ribs and an array of cuts and bruises. it is apparent that she feels pain, which actually is a good sign. >> the worst of laura's injuries was invisible. the force of the crash had slammed her brain around inside her skull, causing serious damage. she was in a coma. there was no telling when or if she would ever wake up. you have to think, we are so fortunate our daughter has survived. but you have to also be thinking at the same time, what are her

chances for long-term survival? what can the doctors do? was that a constant fear for all of you? >> it wasn't for me right at the time. it was more, i'm in the moment here. this is the state she's in. what do we do to help her, you know? give me an update. and i had -- i don't know when i had it, matt, but early on, i just had a feeling of peace, that she was going do well. >> did either of you have that same feeling? >> mm-hmm. i did. >> did you? >> it was just taking it step by step. we just -- just remember feeling positive all the way through and just kind of hanging onto that and just, like you said, taking it day by day, kind of hour by hour and just, you know -- >> i'm not emotional. >> i'm more emotional than that.

>> it was hard? hard for you to think that everything was going to be okay? >> it was hard, yeah. i'm not a hospital person. the machines -- every beep, every nonbeep, everything that stopped scared me, everything that started, you know, was unsettling. i didn't know what everything was for. and, yeah, i was fearful. i was shaky today, laurie, wanting so badly for you to wake up. it's not like you to be so still. wake up, sweetie. i want to talk to you and see your beautiful face and look into your eyes. i love you. mom. >> the family took turns keeping a 24-hour vigil by laura's bedside. whitney's family was keeping a different kind of vigil. >> on saturday, the 29th of april, a day before the funeral, you held a visitation. and, boy, a lot of people came.

>> we got there, and the line started, and it just didn't end. it just kept going and going. people coming up to us that, you know, saying they were sorry and all that. but what we wanted to hear and what a lot of them did was share moments of how whitney had touched them. that just made us feel really, really, really good. >> by the way, it was also whitney's birthday. >> yes, exactly. >> that had to make it doubly hard. >> well, you know, whitney was huge on birthdays. so we asked if it would be okay. they put a tv out there, and we had a tape of whitney's birthday parties. whitney. >> hi. >> how old are you? >> 4. >> that was a neat, neat thing. just sitting there and being sad, we could sit there and celebrate whitney's life. >> how old are you, birthday girl? >> 5. >> how are you, birthday girl. >> it was good to hear her laughter too. the laughter just made you understand and realize that whitney's life, even though it

was short, you know, really had an impact. >> i love my mommy too. >> during the visitation, i guess an obvious question, the casket was -- >> closed, yes. ♪ blessed be the name of the lord ♪ >> sunday, april 30, 2006, the day after whitney's birthday, you held the funeral. your church is not small. >> no. >> and it was overflowing. >> yes. >> tell me about the ceremony. >> well, it was a -- you know, we've been to a lot of funerals, and this was the first time we were actually the ones sitting in the front row. it just didn't seem like it was happening. it was an out-of-body experience almost. it's like we were participating but not really participating. the church holds about 1,100. there were over 1,400 people that showed up. we were in awe. we were in absolute awe. >> you always sent an angel to me, and now you just have the wings to prove it.

>> she may not have been the best player, but she made the others feel they were. >> she's already getting her reputation as the funniest girl in heaven. >> it was humbling, that's what it was. so many people cared enough for our family. we felt so surrounded and loved by so many people. >> the ceraks buried their daughter on monday, may 1. >> so much on your mind. i can only imagine. there was a mix-up. you forgot to pick your mom up? >> in the confusion of all the things, i go, where's mom? and all of a sudden i hear colleen go, uh-oh. that's when she goes, i was supposed to tell you that you had to pick her up. >> and when you went to apologize to her about not getting her and her missing that burial, she said something -- >> it's something that we believe as christians that -- and i just said, mom, i am so sorry. she said, newell, that's okay. i said, are you sure? she said, yeah, because it's not really whitney anyway.

>> she meant that whitney's soul, the real whitney, was already in heaven. but soon, her words would seem prophetic in a very different way. coming up, another puzzling detail about laura. you noticed something about her teeth. >> these two on either side in the front looked different to me. >> when "a twist of fate" continues. [ female announcer ] we were flattered when regenerist beat a $100 cream. flabbergasted when we creamed a $500 cream. for about $30 regenerist micro-sculpting cream hydrates better than over 20 of america's most expensive luxury creams. fantastic. phenomenal. regenerist.

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hello. i'm milissa rehberger. crunch time as they are hours from torcht's debate. on the heels of that, the kennedys will meet in the morning for the "meet the press" debate. and the obama administration is directing the fbi to expand its definition of raid. included in the new definition for the first time is the possibility for men to be counted as victims. more news later. now back to "twist of fate." tuesday, may 2nd -- laura's surgery today went great. they set her broken leg and elbow and added a couple of plates for stabilization. she'll get to be more entertaining going through metal detectors now. the tracheotomy went well also. there is no longer anything in

her mouth. all the tubes, et cetera, have been removed. laura's color has improved a great deal. she also is still moving quite a bit. >> six days after the high-speed crash that nearly killed her, laura van ryn was still in intensive care in a coma. she was heavily bandaged, her face was swollen. as the days went by, her family never left her alone. all these hours that you spent by her side, what were you saying to her? what did you talk about? what did you do? >> we would tell her that we were there. we would tell her who had come to visit. kind of what we had been doing that day. just telling her positive things. you're doing great today. your hair looks cute. >> it's a beautiful, sunny day here in ft. wayne. it's springtime, and the flowers are out. then we sang to her. >> were there favorite songs that you sang to her?

>> suzy called her her sunshine girl. i think we did that "you are my sunshine, my only sunshine." >> quite often i would sing "this is the day the lord has made" just the chorus. very quietly. because i'm kind of quiet. >> in the intensive care unit, laura and her family were surrounded by loved ones. >> we had huge amounts of visitors. and so we took two or three at a time because you had to keep it real low key, numerous friends went back to see laura. they went and they saw laura. n see laura. they went and they saw laura. >> did anyone come to you and say they felt unusual, that they saw anything unusual, that they had any doubts, fears, anything? >> no. >> not one person? >> no. no. >> laura started moving a lot more today. at times, she squeezes hands, wiggles toes, squints her eyes, though still closed, and moves her legs and arms. she's still in a comatose state,

but her movements are very positive signs. >> they watched for the tiniest signs of consciousness. but when one came, it was a bit puzzling at first. lisa, you're at laura's bedside, and she yawned, which i guess she hadn't done prior to that. and she kind of opened her mouth, and you noticed something about her teeth. >> mm-hmm. >> tell me what you saw. >> well, i noticed that these two on either side in the front looked different to me. set a little bit differently than i thought laura's teeth had been. i said, look at her teeth. i think i pulled up the lip a little bit. we said, yeah, that does look a little different. we knew that laura when she was thrown from the vehicle, they found her up against a fence. our speculation was that they had gotten hit and shifted a little bit. >> on may 7th taylor university held a memorial service for the four students and one staff member killed in the crash.

whitney's family drove down from michigan to attend. on the highway you passed the scene of the accident. only this time there are five crosses on the side of the road. what did you do? >> i just remember getting out and, you know, looking at it. you could see the big crevices in the median that had been torn up by the truck coming across. and it was -- it was just one of those sombering times where you just kind of sit there and just -- the reality of it was there. >> did you pray together then? >> yes, we did. i remember getting out and heading over there, and we all put our arms around each other and just stood there looking at that memorial. someone had put together an array of crosses, five crosses. and it was just -- it was, it was just a very sobering time. >> before the service, they had dinner at the home of the university's president.

there they met the university official who had identified whitney's body. >> he's a good friend of ours. we thanked him for what he had done, and my heart was just praying for him for him not to have it hurt too much. >> we felt bad that he was the one that had those visions in his head. >> and no questions about what did you see -- >> no. >> how was she, nothing? >> no. i never even had an inkling of even asking him anything like that. i just felt really bad that he had to do that. >> we grieve, and we mourn. >> laura's family left her bedside for a few hours to attend the service. what do you remember about that memorial service? >> powerful. the place was packed. >> one of the most powerful speeches came from whitney's father. >> the lord jesus excite has her in his presence right now and that one day we'll see her again.

>> did they put pictures of some of the victims up on a projection screen at the front of the room? >> uh-huh. >> do you remember seeing whitney cerak's photo go up? >> oh, yeah. you know, we saw all of them. >> did anything register with you when you looked at her picture? >> no. >> not at all. >> it was at the memorial service that the two families met for the first time. >> i felt a tap on my shoulder, and i turned around and it was don van ryn. >> i introduced myself as laura's father and just let him know how we felt. how much compassion we had for his family and how we were praying for them. >> i said, don, i want you to know i'm praying for your daughter. i'm very thankful for the progress she was making. because we were constantly reading the blog, as well. >> did you keep up with that? >> i did. i read it pretty much every day. i would get on. at one point, i said, i wonder colleen, how we would handle it if that was our daughter.

i just don't know how strong a parent i am. would i be able to handle taking care of a daughter in a serious accident knowing that maybe she's going to be a vegetable for the rest of her life. i'll be honest with you. at that point we just said we're thankful that whitney's gone and that the van ryns are strong enough to deal with the situation that they're dealing with. >> he couldn't know at the time how deeply ironic his words actually were. coming up -- laura begins to wake up. >> her boyfriend looked at her eyes and said the color appears different. >> when "a twist of fate" continues. ♪ [ male announcer ] talking a big game about your engine is one thing. having a proven history that can back it all up is a whole other story. unsurpassed torque. incredible towing. legendary cummins engines.

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sunday, may 7 -- laura is still sporting the pigtails, and her face is looking quite normal. there is virtually no swelling at all. >> laura van ryn had been in a coma for 11 days and her sister lisa's blog had developed a big following. the words spread through e-mails and churches all over the world. >> we continue to see encouraging signs from laura today as she is now breathing entirely on her own. they've had her sitting in a chair, and she's looking pretty peaceful so far today. >> although laura was still

unconscious, she was moving more and more. and as her family stood vigil at her bedside, there wasn't much privacy. at one point, her hospital gown or what she was wearing, rode up a little bit and you could see her naval, and it was pierced. what was your thought when you saw that? >> oh, i didn't know about that. >> i wonder if mom and dad know about that. >> yes. just shrugged it off like, well, she had just been on spring break. didn't know that. now i do. >> soon, the family was rejoicing at a much more significant development. for the first time since the crash, laura opened her eyes. what was that like? >> it wasn't like the movies where her eyes popped open. one eye just barely opening, just a little slit. that's the way it happened. >> and very, very glossy and not focusing on anything. >> right. >> that one little glossy slit was a whole lot better than what you'd seen before. must have been a momentous occasion?

>> right. >> that's true. >> it was like a little glimmer of, yes! >> did you see it? >> it was like you almost didn't believe you saw that she had done that. >> but it was true. after 20 days in the coma, laura was slowly waking up. >> tuesday, may 16 -- proverbs 16:1 says -- to man belong the plans of the heart, but from the lord comes the reply of the tongue. laura started talking to us last night. >> do you remember what she said? >> i think she said hi. >> yeah. i think it was, hi. >> very hoarse, very weak. >> must have been the best word you'd ever heard. >> oh, yeah. >> very exciting, very exciting. >> what did you say to her? >> hi, sweetie.

>> you know, we had been talking to her all along and singing to her and reading to her with, you know, nothing coming back but just, you know, praying that she heard us. and when she said that, it was like you said this urge to, okay, let's keep this going. >> even as laura's family celebrated her slow return, whitney's family was trying to restart their lives. parents newell and colleen returned to a home that would never be the same, leaving their other daughter, carly, behind at taylor university for the first time since the accident. >> at that moment, i remembered when i was in mississippi and carly had called me. and i just remember how helpless i felt. and those feelings all came up again. at that point leaving her again because i just felt helpless to leave her there. >> you two go back home and you got to get back to your lives. you went back to work. >> yep.

>> had to get used to the fact that whitney was gone. those first few weeks must have been impossible? >> they were hard. >> they're like a blur to me. we felt this huge hole in our hearts. even though we have this hope, even though we know that one day we'll see each other again, it doesn't diminish the pain. >> on may 18th, a big day. moved laura from the hospital to a rehabilitation center here in grand rapids. >> uh-huh. >> were you nervous about the move? >> i was. >> why? what made you nervous? >> every new move, every new thing they did was anxious for me. >> not knowing if she was ready medically. >> on the other hand, it had to be a feeling that you made a big step getting her closer to home. >> yes, yes. >> she was on the road to getting back home for good. >> right. >> laura was transported to spectrum health continuing care center in grand rapids,

michigan, not far from her family's home. >> monday, may 22nd -- let me take a minute here and try to answer a frequently asked question. so is laura out of the coma now? well, the answer to that is yes. however, is she alert, bright-eyed, and aware of all that's going on? no. her brain needs to be retrained or reminded, perhaps, to handle information. once again, it's going to be a long road for her. this waking up process is a slow one. >> but now that laura had at least partially regained consciousness, her long-time boyfriend noticed something else that was unusual. >> well, aaron, her boyfriend, at one point looked at her eyes and said, the color appears different. >> did he discuss that with you? >> i believe so. they were a little more blue, maybe. >> a little more blue. >> they had more of a greenish hue as you remembered them? >> yeah.

>> how did you figure that out? how did you explain that? >> i didn't really think about it, to be honest. >> that didn't mean anything to us. >> right. >> but soon, it would mean the world to them. and to whitney's family as well. coming up -- a startling moment in laura's recovery. the therapist asked her to write her name. >> she wrote, whitney. >> when "a twist of fate" continues.

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friday, may 26th -- a few people have asked if laura opens her eyes a lot and if she recognizes people. she does open her eyes quite a bit now, but it's tough to tell sometimes what she's focusing on. when we asked her if she'd see

something, she will usually nod her head to respond. as far as recognizing us? we think that sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't. >> it was a month now since laura van ryn had suffered a serious brain injury in a high-speed freeway collision that killed five other people. her broken bones were healing. her face was back to normal. with her family constantly at her side, laura had slowly awakened from a coma and now she was undergoing intensive therapy to rebuild her mental and physical powers. she had to relearn how to walk, how to talk, and as her speech slowly improved, she started to say some things that were strange. i think it was about this time that she looked at you and called you carly. >> she called me april and she called me one other name and maybe she called me lisa too.

she had several names. we just thought that she was very confused and maybe she had had a nurse by the name of april or something was why she said that to me. >> laura also called her boyfriend aaron hunter and told him to lie down. but it's not unusual for brain-injured patients to call people by the wrong name or even to misidentify themselves. and, besides, laura was showing many signs of regaining her memory and her identity. so here you're showing your daughter a picture of her roommates, and she knows every one of their names. >> she did. i said, great, laura, good job. amazing. and there were other things she did that were very laura-like. >> like what? >> the leg was shaking. laura would always shake her leg. she was strong, had strong legs. laura had those soccer legs, you know? we'd say stuff, oh, yeah, that's laura right there. >> that's so laura. she's slowly coming back to you as laura.

those little things, you know, for us it was like, oh, that's so laura. >> did you ask her her name? did you ever ask her, can you say your name? >> no. >> i don't think at that point. >> i don't remember doing that. >> no. >> let me take you to memorial day, may 29th, 2006. you actually spent the day with friends, i think. it was -- i believe it might have been the first day you spent away. >> yep, that's right. >> from laura. don, you attended her therapy session that day. >> correct. yes. >> the therapist asked her to write her name. >> mm-hmm. >> tell me about that moment. >> she wrote -- scrawled, whitney. >> whitney. she wrote whitney. at first, her dad didn't give it much thought. >> we had been schooled all along by the medical personnel and the brain injury people about brain injuries and about how the neurons are firing but they aren't necessarily connecting. >> the therapist showe