Mother of three children killed by alleged drunk driver says she forgives him
The mother of three children allegedly killed by an drink-driver says she is heartbroken but has forgiven the man behind the wheel.
The mother of the three children who were killed in Sydney’s northwest on Saturday night returned to the scene of the accident on Monday to express her loss and forgive the man who allegedly killed her children.
Clutching her rosary beads, Leila Geagea Abdallah, 32, said she still could not believe what happened.
“To be fully honest with you, it feels very unreal, I still don’t feel it’s true, I feel that they are still with me. I’m still waiting for them to come home,” she said.
“I opened my eyes this morning, I was waiting for Antony, Angelina and Sienna … you see all of them around each other, cheering each other up, lifting each other.”
“Oh, I can still feel them hugging me.”
She spoke of how she is finding comfort in her Maronite Catholic faith, which is central to the life of the Abdallah family.
“We tried to focus on their spiritual side more than anything. We tried to teach them to pray the rosary, read the Bible, to live their faith, to be good people in life and to share God’s faith through them,” she said.
Ms Abdallah said she did not hate Samuel Davidson, 29, who allegedly drunkenly drove his Mitsubishi ute on to the footpath on Bettington Road in northwest of Oatlands on Saturday night.
“I think in my heart to forgive him, but I want the court to be fair. It’s all about fairness. I’m not going to hate him, because that’s not who we are and that’s not what our religion tells us,” she said.
“I am sad. I am heartbroken. But I am at peace because I know my kids are in a better place.”
Mr Davidson allegedly killed Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna Abdallah, 9, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, on Saturday night when allegedly driving drunk to his Oatlands home from a nearby Caltex supermarket with a 24-year-old male friend.
According to Ms Abdallah’s husband Danny, the seven children from the same extended family were given permission to walk to the local shops for ice cream in order to give them “a little bit of independence”.
The crash also injured another of the Abdallah’s daughters, aged 10, as well as another girl aged 13 and a boy aged 11, who was taken to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in a coma, from which he is believed to have emerged.
The two girls are expected to make a full recovery.
The parents of Mr Davidson said they are devastated by the incident.
“We’re absolutely devastated for the loss of those children,” retired NSW Police detective Allan Davidson told Nine News from his Central Coast home.
“We’re no strangers to grief. We lost a daughter ten years ago and now effectively we lost a son.
Samuel’s mother, Kay Davidson, said her son regrets his alleged actions.
“He is so, so, sorry. He can’t believe what happened,” she said.
The couple also said that Mr Davidson, who worked as a truck driver, “has a good heart.”
“He’s just as devastated as we are,” said Mr Davidson.
“(He) understands the consequences of his actions.”
Mr Davidson was arrested at the scene and charged with 20 offences, including four counts of manslaughter and high-range drink driving.
When breath tested at Castle Hill police station after the accident he recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.150, three times over the legal limit.
His friend, who police say performed CPR on the injured children, has not been arrested and has been co-operating with police.
Mr Davidson appeared in Parramatta Court on Sunday where he did not apply for bail.
He was reportedly moved on Monday to a private cell in a western Sydney processing facility to protect him from being attacked by other detainees. He will also be placed in protective custody ahead of his April 2 appearance in Parramatta Court.
On Monday friends and family of the Abdallah family took to social media to warn people not to donate to fraudulent crowd-funding campaigns designed to pocket donations.
One false fundraiser on the website GoGetFunding, which says it was started by Leila Abdallah — despite her dead son’s name being spelt incorrectly in the description — has already collected $1800 and was still online on Monday afternoon.
NSW police have warned the public to do their research before donating to any fund that claims to be for the benefit of the Abdallah family.
“Police have received a number of reports regarding allegedly fraudulent crowd-funding pages relating to the victims of the Oatlands crash,” a NSW police spokesman said.
“Any report of criminal activity will be thoroughly investigated. Police are encouraging anyone who becomes aware of a scam to report it to the ACCC’s Scamwatch.
“Do not donate via fundraising pages on platforms that do not verify the legitimacy of the fundraiser or that do not guarantee your money will be returned if the page is determined to be fraudulent.”
Family friend Stuart Bonds, 33, who has started a Facebook fundraiser with the knowledge of Danny Abdallah said he couldn’t believe such scams.
“Yeah somebody sent me through some images of some other ones that have been set up,” he said. “They look like they’ve been set up in Leila’s name — but they’re not. The problem is people want to help so they jump on things without looking into them.”
The accident, which rocked the tight-knit Lebanese Australian community, has reverberated overseas.
On Monday afternoon Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab tweeted his support to the Abdallah family, saying the tragedy “has affected Lebanon”.
“All of Lebanon is feeling sorry,” he wrote.
“God have mercy on the victims and inspire their loved ones.”
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المأساة التي أصابت أهلنا ÙÙŠ أوستراليا بخسارة Ù¤ أطÙال لبنانيين، من بينهم Ù£ أشقاء، آلمتنا كثيراً وهي Ùاجعة أصابت لبنان وليس Ùقط ذوي الضØايا. لبنان كله يشعر بالأسى. رØÙ… الله الضØايا وألهم ذويهم الصبر.
— Hassan B. Diab (@Hassan_B_Diab) February 2, 2020
