Bob Sakr, father of Oatland’s crash victim loses cancer battle

In another unimaginable loss for the victims of the Oatlands crash in 2020, Veronique Sakr’s father has passed away.

Tributes are pouring in for the father of Oatlands crash victim Veronique Sakr, who lost his battle with cancer last week.

Bob Sakr’s daughter, along with her cousins Sienna, Angelina and Antony Abdallah, tragically lost their lives on February 1, 2020, when they were struck by a drunk and drugged driver in a ute while walking on a footpath in the northwestern Sydney suburb.

In June Mr Sakr confirmed on social media that his cancer had become aggressive and he only had two weeks to live.

Bob Sakr kisses the coffin of his daughter Veronique during her funeral at the Santa Sabina College Chapel in Sydney on Tuesday, February 11, 2020.

He took the opportunity to express his gratitude to all those who had been a part of his life and allowed him to be a part of theirs.

“I am not one to bid farewell, but instead, I prefer to say, ‘See you next time I’m looking at you’,” Mr Sakr wrote.

The Lebanese Australian community paid tribute to Mr Sakr in a heartwarming post on Facebook.

“This moment is a celebration for Veronique Sakr, celebrating her dad’s arrival into heaven, welcoming her dad into the kingdom of heaven, where happiness and joy never ends!” is posted.

Bob Sakr (far left) with son Michael arrive at the memorial of the Oatland’s crash scene. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian.

His older brother David Sakr described it as the “saddest day of my life”.

“In our hearts you will live on forever. You are now reunited with your baby girl Veronique and with mum and dad.”

Friend Luigi Pelaia wrote: “RIP Bob Sakr. Until we ride again. You are in a better place and reunited with your Angel”

Another friend Mary-Anne Maz wrote “condolences to all the family, especially his son Michael. Resting with his daughter Veronique”.

Michael Sakr, has lost both his sister and father in the space of three years, an unimaginable tragedy.

Veronique Sakr died alongside her cousins Antony, Angelina and Sienna.

Veronique was only 11 years old when she lost her life.

The Australian Basloukit Assoication, which is named after a village in Lebanon, said Mr Sakr’s funeral was held on Wednesday at Maroun Cathedral Church in Redfern.

Samuel William Davidson, the driver of the ute responsible for the tragic incident that killed Veronique and her cousins, pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter and charges related to injuries sustained by three other children involved in the crash in 2020.

Davidson was driving recklessly and at high speed when his vehicle mounted a kerb and struck the group of children.

Initially, he was sentenced in April 2021 to 28 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 21 years.

However, in 2022, his sentence was reduced by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal to 20 years, with a non-parole period of 15 years, as they deemed the original sentence excessively harsh.

Mr Sakr told SBS in February 2021 that he relived the horrific events surrounding the loss of Veronique every day.

“If somebody has a heart attack, the heart muscle never repairs, this is how it is for me,” he said.

Davidson’s religious conversion

Meanwhile Davidson, the driver of the ute that killed the children, appears to have had a religious conversion in jail.

Danny Abdallah, the father of Antony, Angelina and Sienna, told the podcast Christian Lives Matter this month he had been told about this from his spritiual director.

Despite the devastating situation, Mr and Ms Abdallah forgave the driver just days after he wiped out half of their family.

In an interview on Christian Lives Matter podcast, Mr Abdallah said a former homeless man who knew the family’s spiritual adviser Father Robert Pio reached out to the priest from jail and claimed Davidson wanted to meet him.

After the homeless man contacted Father Robert, a second person is understood to have reached out, telling him: “Look Father Robert, I’ve got the driver that ran over the Abdallah children, he’s in my cell’.”

The Abdallah family before the crash.

“Of all the priests in Australia this guy’s talking to Father Robert, my spiritual father,” Mr Abdallah said.

“Well, (Father Robert) goes ‘I know the Abdallah parents, I visit them regularly and I talk to them, they come to my church.

“(Now Davidson) prays the rosaries three times a day, he goes to mass, he’s doing Bible study and he wants to become a Maronite Catholic.”

A Maronite Catholic himself, Mr Abdallah admitted he was initially surprised by Davidson’s willingness to become religious.

“I was shocked. I honestly didn’t expect it at all to hear Father Robert went and visited him and spoke to him and he’d done his first confession,” Mr Abdallah said.

“They spoke and (Davidson) said ‘you know, the whole world should have hated me, but because of Danny and Leila’s forgiveness I was able to see life in a different way’.

“(Father Robert) said (Davidson) kept on saying how sorry he is and knows what he (did) was wrong but goes ‘that’s what’s changed my heart’.”

– with Rebecca Borg