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Abdallah family launch forgiveness campaign one year on from crash that killed four children

byMark Bowling
1 February 2021 - Updated on 24 March 2021
Reading Time: 2 mins read
AA

Prayer support: Almost 2000 people gather at a Rosary vigil organised by the Maronite community at the site where the Abdallah children died. Residents from the surrounding streets joined the crowd in Bettington Road, Oatlands, to pray a Rosary for the souls of the children and for the family and friends. Photo: Adrian Middeldorp

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Prayer support: Almost 2000 people gather at a Rosary vigil organised by the Maronite community at the site where the Abdallah children died days after the crash. Residents from the surrounding streets joined the crowd in Bettington Road, Oatlands, to pray a Rosary for the souls of the children and for the family and friends. Photo: Adrian Middeldorp

“FORGIVENESS gives you freedom and allows you to live your life peacefully,” Leila Abdallah said one year after a crash that took the lives of three of her four children.

“Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself.”

On February 1, 2020in the quiet western Sydney suburb of Oatlands, an out of control ute mounted a footpath killing four children – Antony Abdallah, 13, his sisters Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 9, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11.

 The four were walking to the shops in the early evening to buy ice creams.

The children’s two families gathered on the eve of the anniversary, but instead of harsh words towards the driver, they have spoken of forgiveness – launching an annual memorial “honouring our four little saints in heaven” and urging people to reflect on the importance of relationships in their lives. 

“We chose to turn our tragedy into a greater goodness. We chose to carry our cross with dignity. We chose forgiveness and love over hatred…” Ms Abdallah, a Maronite Catholic from western Sydney’s parish of Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral, said.

At the launch of I4give Day four white doves and some butterflies were released in memory of the children, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian both spoke. 

Mr Morrison described the Abdallah family’s ability to forgive in the days after the accident as “breathtaking”, and he referred to the Lord’s Prayer and its message of forgiveness.

“We know (the words) by heart. We think we knew what they meant but when you have to face it, when you have to confront pain and suffering in the extreme, then you realise how truly difficult that is,” Mr Morrison told the gathering at Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens. 

“To see someone not only say these words but live them, even in the midst of continued pain and grief, leaves me in awe.”

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The driver of the vehicle has pleaded guilty to four charges of manslaughter and other offences.

Watch the Prime Minister Morrison launching I4give Day here. 

A memorial will be held each year on February 1.

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Mark Bowling

Mark is the joint winner of the Australian Variety Club 2000 Heart Award for his radio news reporting in East Timor, and has also won a Walkley award, Australia’s most-respected journalism award. Mark is the author of ‘Running Amok’ that chronicles his time as a foreign correspondent juggling news deadlines and the demands of being a husband and father. Mark is married with four children.

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