Leila Abdallah says her children ‘looked at peace’ after crash deaths
Leila Abdallah, whose three children were killed when struck by a car driven by an allegedly drunk driver in Sydney’s northwest on Saturday, says she hasn’t slept or eaten since the tragedy. On Wednesday night several hundred people joined the family in grief at the site.
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The mother of three children killed by an alleged drunk driver in Sydney’s northwest has described her heartbreak after she saw their bodies in a morgue as she prepares for their funeral.
Abdallah siblings Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 8, died at the scene in Oatlands alongside their cousin Veronique while on an evening walk last Saturday.
Their mother Leila Abdallah, 34, returned to the crash site on Wednesday and said she felt at peace after seeing them at the Lidcombe mortuary.
“I feel at peace with God – yesterday I went and I saw my kids, I saw them the way I saw them at the scene: no makeup, no filter, no nothing,” she said.
“They looked at peace and they looked like they had the wound of Jesus Christ on them.
“I grabbed everyone’s hand and started praying from all our hearts … after praying I felt at peace, I felt like my kids are alive and they can still hear me and are around us.”
The Abdallah children will be farewelled at a funeral at Our Lady Of Lebanon in Harris Park, near Parramatta, on Monday morning.
Two other gatherings will be held on Friday and Saturday evenings at the church because so many mourners in Sydney’s Maronite Christian community are expected to pay their respects.
Ms Abdallah, who led a prayer at the crash site before speaking with her husband Danny, said she had not slept since Saturday but has been given strength from the outpouring of support.
“I haven’t eaten since Saturday, I’m not hungry, I don’t feel like eating – I’ve lost my three precious kids,” she said.
“But all these people are coming to pray with us and showing us love.
“I think that has made it easier for us and knowing my kids are angels, that’s what brings comfort to our hearts I believe, isn’t it Danny?”
It comes after it was revealed the three Abdallah children regularly gave up their Friday nights to serve meals to the needy with a charity in Blacktown.
Mr Abdallah said Sienna wanted to do charity work for her seventh birthday instead of celebrating with her friends and eating chocolate cake.
“She said I want to go and feed the needy and I want to feed the homeless, she went there and put her gloves on, she’s serving and then they sung her happy birthday,” he said.
“A typical seven-year-old, they look at the cake and want to eat it, she went down and went to this girl and said ‘this is for you to take home’, so this is the sort of spirit that they had.”
Mr Abdallah said Antony loved working with his dad on construction sites and would wake up at 7am before riding his bicycle to help.
He said his little sister Angelina was studious and a “bookworm”.
Meanwhile, Sienna was outgoing and destined to be a star, Mr Abdallah said.
“Sienna is one of those girls who always clicked her fingers and had her hand on her hip, she was a diva, she knew she had me around her pinky, whatever she wanted I ended up doing,” Mr Abdallah said.
“All I ask through this is fathers be fathers and mothers be mothers. People are tired and fatigued and they go to work tired and fatigued but they won’t play with their kids and hang with them fatigued and tired … but if it’s work, they’ll work those extra hours. Just make that time for your families because it’s important.”
Originally published as Leila Abdallah says her children ‘looked at peace’ after crash deaths
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