Danny Abdallah said the thing he misses most since a drunk driver killed three of his children and a niece in 2020 is the noisy, disordered life that once filled his home.

The children — Antony, 13; Angelina, 12; Sienna, 8; and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11 — were struck and killed on February 1, 2020, when a ute mounted the kerb on Bettington Road in Oatlands, in Sydney’s north‑west. The four youngsters, who were walking with other siblings and cousins, were hit from behind. The driver, Samuel Davidson, was later found to be three times the legal alcohol limit and high on drugs.

Abdallah spoke about the loss as he marked Father’s Day, telling The Sunday Telegraph that the quiet of his house after the crash was unexpectedly painful. "After what had happened to us, the saddest day was when I walked into the house and it was perfect … there was no mess," he said. "I used to wish for this and when I got it, I wish I had it the other way. So I tell parents, don't be upset when the house is dysfunctional and unorganised — because it becomes a home."

Davidson, then 34, was sentenced to 20 years in prison with a 15‑year non‑parole period after the fatal collision; that term was reduced from 28 years on appeal. In public comments since the sentencing, Abdallah has said he forgave Davidson for the sake of his remaining children and his Christian faith.

"At the end of the day, I've still got three other kids. I need to be a father too and I need to be a husband to my wife, and it's already hard enough," Abdallah told KIIS FM's Kyle & Jackie O. He said the decision to forgive was deliberate rather than emotional. "Anything you do in life is a choice, not a feeling," he said. "Whether it's going to the gym, whether it's anything you do, and that's the same as forgiveness. It's not a feeling. It's a choice that you have to make."

Abdallah and his wife, Leila, established the i4give foundation after the crash to honour the children and their niece and to promote community engagement around forgiveness. The foundation marks an annual i4give day on February 1 and has worked with communities across Australia.

In 2024 the Abdallah and Sakr families unveiled a permanent memorial at the crash site outside Oatlands Golf Club. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, former prime minister Scott Morrison, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and former premier Dominic Perrottet attended the ceremony, at which four sandstone plinths bearing the children’s faces were revealed. Abdallah thanked his wife at the ceremony, calling her his "pillar of strength."

Abdallah has said he and Davidson now speak monthly and that those conversations are focused on family. The meetings have been filmed for television, and Abdallah told reporters he wanted to show that Davidson was not a monster and that their conversations revolved around the welfare of Abdallah's surviving children and his wife, who recently gave birth to their eighth child.

Abdallah’s public statements have emphasized practical choices following grief, urging parents to value the everyday disorder that signals a lived‑in home. He has repeatedly framed forgiveness as a conscious decision made to protect his marriage and remaining children and to prevent bitterness from dominating the family’s life.