James Kaloczy’s victim impact statement over wife Joy’s death in crash

A killer driver has broken down as the husband of his victim revealed to a court his despair at losing his wife just days after their daughter walked down the aisle.

Gympie’s James Kaloczy has revealed the devastation left in the wake of his wife Joy’s death at the hands of a killer driver in 2020, saying he wished it was he who had been killed.

Gympie man James Kaloczy has revealed the devastation of losing his “best friend”, his wife Joy, at the hands of a killer driver in 2020, telling the court he wished it had been he who died.

The depth of Mr Kaloczy’s grief, and of his family’s, was laid bare in a Victim Impact Statement read aloud to the Gympie District Court on August 30, after 37-year-old Brisbane driver Steven Curtis pleaded guilty to causing the catastrophic head-on collision on the Wide Bay Highway at Lower Wonga on October 14, 2020.

The court heard the crash happened after Curtis tried to overtake a “convoy” of eight vehicles while approaching a bend.

He was still on the wrong side of the road when he reached the curve, and in the path of the Kaloczy’s vehicle headed in the opposite direction.

The two vehicles collided head-on at high speed, leaving all three occupants with serious injuries.

Mrs Kaloczy was flown to the Royal Brisbane Hospital but died three days later.

Wheelchair-bound Steven Curtis, 37, faced Gympie District Court Friday afternoon to plead guilty to dangerous driving causing death, almost four years after the shocking crash at Lower Wonga which killed 59-year-old Joy Kaloczy.

Crown Prosecutor Michael Andronicus read Mr Kolaczy’s statement after disclosing the facts to the court, causing Curtis to burst into tears during the four-minute reading.

“I never would have guessed that two weeks after I walked my own daughter down the aisle and giving her away to her best friend, that I would soon lose mine,” Mr Kolaczy told the court, as read by Mr Andronicus.

“Joy by name, joy by nature. I was lucky to have met her.

“It was both our first love and we were married for 29 years.

“After many years of trying we became blessed with a daughter. Joy came home and talked (to her) nearly every day.

“They were incredibly close, as Joy was with her mother.

“Now she is married and ready for a family of their own.”

Mr Kaloczy said now the “experience will always be tarnished by the fact her mum isn’t there, isn’t here”.

“My wife will never be a grandmother to her only child.

“She will never teach her, share memories of her past, or love and support her in her life.

“A daughter needs a mother, and my daughter needs her mother now more than ever but was sadly taken from her when she was just 25.

“My wife was just starting to form a close bond with my daughter’s husband, too, who lost his mum at age 11.

“All of us have been seeing psychologists since the accident but it doesn’t seem to get any easier.”

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Steven Curtis, 37, burst into tears as Crown Prosecutor Michael Andronicus read aloud the victim impact statement from James Kaloczy in the Gympie District Court.

Mr Kaloczy was still “upset on occasions, especially at sleep”.

“What I would give to lay next to my wife just one more time.

“Joy was a very family-orientated person. She kept close contact with family, loved carrying on traditions, host gatherings and even brought our extended family closer together by starting an annual reunion.

“Every year was a bigger turnout, and now it’s stopped.

“It’s too hard to bring (everyone to) celebrate when the whole family, after four years, are still grieving.”

He said Joy was “adamant” about keeping the family together to the point she “fought and beat stage four cancer”.

“She refused to give up, always thinking of her daughter,” Mr Kaloczy said.

“We could see a bright future ahead in our marriage too. We both retired early, Joy not well enough to work.

“It was a long road to recovery but she did it and our second honeymoon phase began.

“We became closer than ever and things were starting to look up again. We splurged our savings on the perfect caravan to “travel around Australia.

Mr Kolaczy told the court “I never would have guessed that two weeks after I walked my own daughter down the aisle and giving her away to her best friend, that I would soon lose mine”.

“We spent a year making modifications to suit a long expedition, comfortable enough to squeeze in the whole family: wife, daughter, son-in-law, and dog. A simple dream of ours that became true.

“My retirement now feels wasted, no-one to spend it with. I can’t work, even if I wanted to, due to my injures at outset.

“I broke my back, cracked wrist, concussion, and internal bleeding.

“Joy was unlucky as the seatbelt tore through her stomach cancer scars.”

He said the pain from their injuries was “indescribable”.

“Family and friends stayed with me until I could walk and take care of myself. That was hard on everybody.

“My daughter took several months off to help with my injuries and manage her grief. She ended up in hospital for stress.

“I got vertigo a few weeks after the accident, and despite intense medical treatment still live with it every day.”

Mr Kaloczy said he had “a lot to be thankful for” including not being wheelchair-bound as a result of his injuries.

There was also his closer relationship with his daughter “just like her and her mum”.

“Now we talk nearly every day, and I try to stay busy but some days it gets too much especially birthdays, Christmas, and wedding anniversary – which just happens be August 26. None of which have any meaning without my wife.

“I wish it was me that didn’t make it. I try hard to fill the gaps for my daughter. I think I’m going OK.

“They say I should move on to the next stage of my life, find a friend, escape the loneliness, but how would I do that when I’m still in love with my wife?”

Judge Michael Byrne adjourned the court immediately after the statement was read, to allow Curtis to compose himself.

During this break the 37-year-old said in between gasps “it should have been me”.

Curtis’s sentencing over the crash was adjourned to an undetermined date owing to complexities around time already served on remand, and as he was on parole at the time of the crash.

Originally published as James Kaloczy’s victim impact statement over wife Joy’s death in crash