Feature Story 2: Separated Brothers Name:

Incredible.
Warming up for his race, senior Daniel Karast had no idea he was about to compete with his
brother who he had no idea existed. His brother, junior Donald Stephens, had been searching
for Karast, but had no idea he was only 30 miles away from him.

At the UIL track meet, Karast was preparing for his race when a teammate mentioned a
competitor that looked very similar to Karast. Startled by the similarity, Karast was not his usual
self in the race and ended in second place by only a fraction of a second. When Karast went to
introduce himself to the man who beat him, he was greeted with a warm embrace. The boy,
Donald Stephens, told Karast that he was his brother. Doctors later confirmed that they were in
fact brothers. Sharing many interests, they are both starting pitchers for their school’s varsity
baseball teams and despite becoming best friends, they will still be competing against each
other on Friday, March 27.

Karast had only just recently heard rumors about his possible brother. His real parents got into a
car accident when he was about 13 months old, and as far as he knew, he was an only child.
That’s why he was so shocked to hear Stephens say he was his brother.
“Meeting Donald was kind of surreal,” Karast said. “When I was at the starting line, I had only
one thing on my mind- win the race. Winning second was great, but finding Donald was
incredible. It was the best day of my life.”

Jana Karast, Daniel’s adoptive mother, also had no idea about Daniel’s brother. Mrs. Karast said
that when Daniel’s parents were in the crash, his mother was pregnant with Donald and they
had to do a C- section to save the baby. Sadly the boy’s mother died hours later.
“We are so happy for Daniel,” Mrs. Karast said. “He’s always been such a happy child, but now
he’s on cloud nine. He’s so proud to have a brother, and the Stephens are lovely people.”

After getting to know Stephens, they have learned each other’s skills. Karast says one of them
could need work on one move while the other could do it perfectly. They have been helping
each other out despite being each other’s competitors.
“Getting to know Donald has been awesome,” Karast said. “I never liked being an only child. I
always wanted a sibling, but my parents couldn’t have children of their own. Both of our parents
get along really well, too. We’ve basically become one big family.”

Both parents of each boy have been getting to know each other ever since the boys met. They
have agreed to support whoever advances to state. The brothers have also agreed that they will
not care who wins the upcoming game.
“When Daniel called us from the track meet and started babbling over the phone that he had a
brother, we didn’t know what to think,” Mrs. Karast said. “My husband and I had no idea that
Daniel’s birth mother was pregnant at the time of the car accident.”

Stephens and Karast have been practicing pitching with each other for their upcoming game.
Stephens said his coach wasn’t sure if Stephens would pitch his best since he would be
competing with his brother, but he is seeing major improvements.
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“I want to win the game this weekend, but I am not going to be devastated if we don't win, “
Stephens said. “Win or lose, I still win”