An inquest has heard how the families of two teenagers were wrongly told which of their sons had died and which had survived, following a car crash near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in December. Joshua Johnson's parents were informed he had survived the 86mph collision and spent three weeks keeping vigil at the hospital bedside of an unconscious patient they believed was their son, while Trevor Wynn's family were told he had died and were preparing his funeral. It later emerged the identities had been swapped: Joshua had in fact died at the scene, while the surviving teenager was Trevor. The families, who did not know each other, said the mix-up left them feeling as though they had endured "two deaths".

The error, which lasted 22 days, arose after personal items including phones, a driving licence and a bank card were found scattered at the crash scene and used to identify the victims, with hospital staff also relying on a driving licence photograph to identify the surviving patient. The mistake was only uncovered on 4 January when the surviving teenager began regaining consciousness and was confirmed to be Trevor, not Joshua. A third teenager, driver Summer Scott, 17, also died in the crash. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating South Yorkshire Police over the error, while Trevor has since been discharged from hospital and is said to be making "an amazing recovery".