Brother documents family tragedy

ALMOST eight years after his two brothers were killed in a car accident, Ben Daniels has helped make a documentary that he hopes will prevent similar tragedies.

Ben Daniels with Jamie Anderson, a participant in his documentary on the deaths of his two brothers in a road accident near Kyogle in 2002.

ALMOST eight years after his two brothers were killed in a car accident near Kyogle, Ben Daniels has helped make a documentary which he hopes will prevent similar tragedies.

Jesse and Eamonn Dan-iels, who were 18 and 14 at the time of the crash, and 14-year-old Levi Ford, were killed on December 7, 2002.

The 16-year-old learner-driver of the car, who was unlicensed and had been drinking, survived.

He was sentenced to three years in jail with a 14-month non-parole period.

Ben was just nine at the time of the accident, which shocked the Kyogle community.

In the months afterwards Ben said he struggled to come to terms with his grief.

His school work suddenly went downhill and he was constantly in trouble.

“It (the crash) had a big impact on me,” he said.

“My whole life was affected. My school work, everything.”

He has told his story for Impact, a short documentary made with a group of local youngsters whose lives have been affected by road trauma.

It was produced out of a film-making master classfacilitated by Fiona Eagger and Deb Cox's Byron Bay-based production company, Every Cloud Productions, and producers of the TV series East of Everything.

Screen NSW provided the financial support.

Along with Ben, the participants in the film include Jamie Anderson, Sandra Cook, Simone and Tracey Crispo, Anna McInnes and Axel Nelson.

Producer Maree-Louise Evans said the participants were ‘exceptionally generous' in telling their stories.

Ben said he wanted to do it because he thought it might help others.

“I tried to be as open as I could,” he said.

“I've never done anything like this before.”

The documentary will screen alongside the two matinee performances of Engine on Friday and Saturday at 7pm in the Byron Bay Community Centre.

Originally published as Brother documents family tragedy