Danny Abdallah said on Father’s Day that what he most misses after a car crash in Oatlands five years ago is the ordinary disorder of a busy family home.
On Feb. 1, 2020, Abdallah and his wife Leila lost three of their children — Sienna, 8; Angelina, 12; and Antony, 13 — and their niece Veronique Sakr, 11, when a utility vehicle mounted the kerb on Bettington Road in Sydney’s north‑west and struck a group of children walking on the footpath. The driver, Samuel Davidson, was found to be three times the legal alcohol limit and to have drugs in his system when he lost control of the vehicle.
Abdallah told The Sunday Telegraph that walking into a suddenly immaculate, quiet house after the crash was the “saddest day” because he found himself missing the mess and chaos he had once longed to escape. “I used to wish for this and when I got it, I wish I had it the other way,” he said, urging other parents to value the disorder that comes with an active family.
Davidson, 34, was sentenced in 2021 to 28 years in prison, a term later reduced on appeal to 20 years with a non‑parole period of 15 years. The crash prompted widespread public attention in Australia and sustained engagement from political leaders and the community.
Since the deaths, Danny and Leila Abdallah have spoken publicly about forgiveness and have channelled their response into community work. The couple founded the i4give foundation, which promotes a national day of forgiveness on Feb. 1 and runs programs intended to foster reconciliation and community resilience. Abdallah has said his decision to forgive was informed by his Christian faith and by a desire to protect the family that remains.
"Anything you do in life is a choice, not a feeling," he told KIIS FM’s The Kyle & Jackie O show in comments previously reported. He said decisions about how to respond to the crash were not just about him but about safeguarding his marriage and caring for his surviving children.
In 2024 the Abdallah and Sakr families unveiled a permanent memorial at the crash site outside Oatlands Golf Club, featuring four sandstone plinths bearing the faces of the children. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, former prime minister Scott Morrison, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and former premier Dominic Perrottet attended the ceremony.
Abdallah has also described ongoing contact with Davidson. He said the pair speak monthly and that Davidson inquires about Abdallah’s surviving children and his wife, who recently gave birth to the couple’s eighth child. A recent meeting was filmed by a television crew and aired by Seven Network’s Spotlight program; Abdallah said he wanted to show what his discussions with Davidson involved and to counter any portrayal of the man as purely monstrous.
The crash and its aftermath drew public sympathy and debate about road safety, alcohol and drug driving, and victim support. Abdallah’s public advocacy and the i4give foundation have kept discussion of those issues in the public arena while also focusing on grief, forgiveness and family recovery.
Abdallah said his priorities remain his family and the choices he makes each day to foster healing: "Do I pour bitterness, anger and revenge, or love, compassion and forgiveness? Because whatever I give, it'll affect everyone in that circle," he said.