‘You are so blessed’: Confronting question stranger asks Oatlands tragedy couple
An awkward pause greeted an unknowing stranger who asked Danny and Leila a seemingly innocent question — with no idea three of their kids had died.
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“Oh my god your baby is so cute. How many kids do you have?”
“Seven.”
“Wow, you are so blessed!”
It’s a seemingly innocent and inconsequential question that many parents have no doubt been asked.
But on Saturday night, outside a hotel in Sydney’s CBD where the Liberal party room function had just wrapped up, that interaction stood out for one heartbreaking reason.
The woman leading the conversation, well-intentioned though she was, appeared to not know who she was talking to.
Holding a two-month-old baby across from her were Sydney parents Leila and Danny Abdallah, aged 37 and 44.
The western Sydney couple sadly lost three of their children in what has come to be known as the Oatlands tragedy, after a driver high on drugs mowed down their kids Sienna, 8, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, in February 2020.
Their niece Veronique Sakr, 11, was also killed in the devastating crash and their only remaining daughter at the time, Liana, sustained a head injury during the incident.
The driver, Samuel Davidson, was sentenced to 28 years jail last year and won‘t be eligible for parole until 2041.
Despite the tragic situation, Leila told news.com.au she welcomes questions about her deceased children as it’s how their memory lives on.
“I’ve always been prepared for that question,” Leila said to news.com.au over the weekend.
“For me, when someone asks me when how many kids I have, I just answer that I have seven kids.
“When people ask further I say I’ve got three [children] in heaven and four here, then people realise who I am.”
Leila even went as far as saying: “I love answering that question [because] this [having my children] is my greatest achievement.”
Other parents have also approached the Abdallahs, uncertain as to how to navigate these difficult conversations in the wake of their own personal tragedies.
“Me and Danny, we get a lot of calls and messages from people, especially when they lose their loved ones, to ask us ‘Leila how did you cope, what did you do?’” Leila explained.
Her advice was to focus on what you still have — in her case, it was her three surviving children as well as her new baby.
In another tragic turn of events, the mum-of-seven added: “Really I have nine kids.
“I had two miscarriages, one before the accident, one after the accident,” she explained.
She discovered she was pregnant in August 2020, just six months after the tragedy that wiped out half her children.
In a strange coincidence, Leila’s pregnancy test result came just a day before Sienna’s birthday, on the day the little girl should have turned nine if her life hadn’t been so cruelly snatched away.
She broke the news to her surviving children Liana, 12, Alex, 7, and Michael, 5, who were all very excited.
Unfortunately, just weeks later she suffered a miscarriage.
“After 11 weeks I lost the baby,” she explained. “I didn’t really feel it … I was so numb, I was just in my heart talking to Angelina and Antony and Sienna, I was just crying because I missed my other kids more than anything, my attachment was stronger to the kids that lived with me.”
Earlier this year, in March, the Abdallahs melted hearts when they gave birth to their newest daughter.
On March 18, Leila and Danny welcomed their daughter Selina, who was born at 7.45am weighing 3.31 kilos.
She was named Selina because it is a mix of the names of their daughters Sienna and Angelina, who died in the crash, as well as her daughter Liana, who survived.
She said she took Selina to the memorial site for her three kids and added: “It breaks my heart that that is the closest that she can get to her brother and sisters.”
However, the Abdallahs are hopeful that their newborn will give new purpose to them and mark a joyous new chapter for the family.
The Abdallahs emerged as supporters of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny after revealing that in the wake of the tragedy as well as a home invasion last year that shook the family, the Liberal couple provided them with emotional support.
Earlier this week, the Abdallah couple revealed in an interview they had become lifelong friends with the Morrisons because of their stunning gestures.
“I walked out of court and he was the first person to call me,” Mr Abdallah said.
“He said ‘Danny, nothing will ever replace your kids’. But it was the biggest manslaughter sentence, 28 years, that they’ve ever given out. He goes ‘but this sentencing was a good sentencing’.”
After the funeral for the children in February 2020, Jenny Morrison invited the Abdallahs to her home.
She also offered to spend the day with the Abdallahs to make sure Leila was feeling safe in her own home after it was broken into.
Mr and Mrs Abdallah were invited to Liberal HQ for the election on Saturday night.
However, having only just had a baby two months ago, they decided to bring their two-month old daughter with them.
They revealed they had voted Liberal this election because of their respect for Scott Morrison and said they were “saddened” the Australian people didn’t know him like they did.
“He’s been to our house, he’s like family,” Danny said.
That said, they also congratulated Anthony Albanese for becoming Australia’s 31st Prime Minister and believed he would do a good job in his new role.
“Congratulations to our new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Our nation has made their decision,” they said in a statement.
“To our Prime Minister Scott and his amazing wife Jenny, you did an amazing job considering the circumstances and the hardship we faced in the last three years.
“Your leadership, humility and love for our nation is outstanding.
“Thank you for being there for us throughout our grief. We love you dearly and we’ll always treasure our friendship.”
Originally published as ‘You are so blessed’: Confronting question stranger asks Oatlands tragedy couple
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