Feature Story 2: Separated Brothers Name:

As senior Daniel Karast warms up for his UIL Regional Track Meet, a teammate comes up to
him and says, “There’s a guy who looks exactly like you.” Daniel does not think much of it and
kneels down to get set on the starting block. As he kneels, he looks to his left to see the
greatest surprise of his life.
Daniel Karast found his long lost brother at a track meet, after they met, they found out
that they had lots of things in common: like baseball. Karast is competing against his brother,
Southside High School junior Donald Stephens, on Friday at their regional playoff baseball
games.
At the UIL State Track Tournament, Daniel took third in the 100-meter, and Donald took
fourth. Daniel only beat Donald by two-tenths of a second.
“Competing against Donald at state was a little strange,” Karast said. “I wanted to win, but
I also wanted him to win.”
Daniel and Donald are only 10 months apart, but they still look the same, with a similar
build to the same hair. As well as the same looks, they both want to go to Texas A&M
University and become engineers.
“I always knew one day I would find my brother, but I had no idea he was only 30 miles
away this whole time,” Donald said.
Daniel and Donald’s birth mother was pregnant with Donald at the time of the car
accident. The mother survived the crash but sustained life-threatening injuries and had to have
an emergency C-section to save Donald. Their mother died a few hours later.
“My husband and I had no idea that Daniel’s birth mother was pregnant at the time of the
car accident,” Jana Karast said.
They will both compete one more time this year at the regional playoff baseball games.
Both boys are starting pitchers for their varsity teams.
“At first, my baseball coach was a little worried about me playing against him,” Stephens
said. “He wasn’t sure I would pitch my best, but then he saw the improvements I’ve made by
practicing with Daniel. He knows now that we both push each other to be better.”
During the playoffs Leaguetown and Southside will play the best two out of three.
“The great thing is, both of us will go to the UIL State Baseball Tournament,” Karast said.“One
will be a player, and the other a fan.”