Daniel Karast found his brother half at the UIL regional track meet.

The sound of the

starting pistol blasted through the air; there was no time to process how similar he looked to the
boy running next to him.
Karast was adopted when he was 13 months old by Bill and Jana Karast. His birth
parents died in a car accident around the time he was a year old. There was there was a mix-up
at the hospital. Apparently, the doctors did not tell child services that Daniel had a younger
brother, Donald Stephens. The two boys had been living 30 miles apart from each other and
neither of them had a clue.
“Meeting Donald was kind of surreal,” Daniel said.
Daniel stood at the starting line with only winning on his mind. Then, he looked to his left
to find himself staring at someone who looked identical to him. Even though Daniel had been
told by one of his friends that there was a boy at the meet that looked exactly like him, he
brushed the comment off under the impression that it was just a joke.
“I always knew one day I would find my brother,” Stephens said. “When I saw him at the
track meet, I knew instantly it was him.”
Stephens, a junior at Southside High School, was eager to introduce himself after the
100-meter dash. After the track meet, doctors confirmed that Daniel Karast and Donald
Stephens were, in fact, brothers. Ever since, the boys have been spending time getting to know
each other.
“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,” Daniel’s adoptive mother, Jana, said.
Neither of Daniel’s adoptive parents knew about Stephens. No one had informed them
that Daniel’s birth mother was pregnant during the time of the accident. While the boys’ mother
was still alive after the crash,but had had endured life-threatening injuries. The doctors had
immediately performed a c-section to save Stephens; unfortunately, the mother died a few
hours later.
“I mean, we look exactly alike,” Daniel said.
The brothers really did look exactly alike; they share the same brown, curly hair and
wide, brown eyes. They even have similar builds and the same crooked front tooth. Although,
looks were not the only thing the boys have in common. They both wish to attend Texas A&M
University and become engineers; and both the brothers are talented in art, track, math, and
baseball. In fact, Daniel and Stephens will both be participating in the UIL regional baseball
playoffs.
“The great thing is, both of us will go to the UIL State Baseball Tournament,” Daniel said.
“One will be a player, and the other a fan.”
At first, Stephens’ coach was worried about his starting varsity pitcher playing against
Daniel, but then he saw how much Stephens has improved as a result of practicing with his
older brother. While Daniel has a faster, more accurate fast ball, Stephens has a better
curveball. The brothers know how to push each other to be the best they can. Aside from both
the boys being there to cheer each other on, both sets of parents will support both teams at the
regional playoffs.
“Win or lose, I still win,” said Stephens.