Feature Story 2: Separated Brothers Name:

The heavy treading of footsteps of people in the distance, practicing. The light sound of
a breeze echoing through the trees, cheering the racers on. At the time, there was one thought
on Daniel Karast’s mind: win the race and bring home first place. At first, nothing was out of the
ordinary, the sun still shining and the wind was still blowing. At first nothing was out of the
ordinary, the pitter patter of footsteps still echoing in the distance. At first nothing was out of the
ordinary, until something was.
Senior Daniel Karast and junior Donald Stephans are brothers who were separated at an
extremely young age. After meeting at the track game, the brothers have spent almost every
weekend together and will be facing off at the regional playoff baseball game tomorrow.
As far as Karast knew, he was an only child. He thought his parents had died in a car
wreck a few months after he was born, however, there was one key detail he was missing: his
mother gave birth before she died.
“My parents had no idea that I had a brother,” Karast said. “Apparently, there was a mix-
up at the hospital, and the doctors failed to tell child services that I had a brother. I was already
adopted by the time child services realized what had happened.”
By the time Stephans was born, no one knew how to reach Karast. Stephans knew he
had a brother, but never knew where to start looking.
“I always knew one day I would find my brother, but I had no idea he was only 30 miles
away this whole time,” Stephans said. “When I saw him at the track meet, I knew instantly it was
him. I just knew. I think that’s why I ran so fast at that meet. It was my best time ever. I was so
happy. I wanted to finish so we could really meet.”
The brothers have been spending time together and getting to know one another and
are becoming close friends.
“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. Seriously,
it’s almost like I have a twin. We are only 10 months apart. He’s 16 and I’m 17 and, so far, we
like the same things. We even share the same favorite food — cheese enchiladas. Both of our
parents get along really well, too. We’ve basically become one big family. During the past few
weekends, we’ve spent a lot of time with them.”
The brothers don't just have a shared favorite food, they also partake and excel in the
same hobbies. Both boys excel in art and math, have hopes of going to college at Texas A&M
University and majoring in engineering, they run track, and play baseball. Karast and Stephans
have been practicing together and pushing each other to do their best.
“We are so happy for Daniel,” Daniels mother, Jana 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. It’s been such a fascinating month — almost like a dream. We will all sit
together at the playoff games. We are going to cheer for both teams, both boys. We will support
whoever advances to state.”
The teams will be playing best two out of three games. The first will be held tomorrow at
7 p.m., the second will be held Saturday at 10 a.m., and the third will be held Saturday at 4 p.m.
if needed. Karast has a.420 batting average, while Stephans has a .333 batting average.
Whatever the outcome may be, both brothers have promised to support the other if they lose.
“At first, my baseball coach was a little worried about me playing against him,” Stephans
said. “He wasn’t sure I would pitch my best, but then he saw the improvements I’ve made by
Feature Story 2: Separated Brothers Name:

practicing with Daniel. He knows now that we both push each other to be better. I’m not going to
lie. I want to win the games this weekend, but I am not going to be devastated if we don’t win.
Win or lose, I still win.”