The family who lost three children in a horrific car accident in which a drunk and drugged driver drove up a sidewalk have welcomed their eighth child, whom they call “a miracle baby.”
Western Sydney couple Danny and Leila Abdallah gave birth to a healthy baby girl on April 20, their second baby since the horrific accident that claimed the lives of three of their children on February 1, 2020.
Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, Sienna, eight, and their niece Veronique Sakr, 11, were hit by a van that slid onto a path and hit the children while they went to buy ice cream in Oatlands, a northwest suburb. from Sydney.
Danny and Leila Abdallah, who lost three children in a horrific car accident involving a drunk and drugged driver, welcomed their eighth child, an as-yet-unnamed daughter born on April 20.
Surprisingly, devout Christians Abdallah said they have forgiven the driver responsible, Samuel Davidson, who in prison converted to the family’s Maronite Catholicism and has now sent them congratulations on the new birth.
Abdallah says he speaks regularly with Davidson and Davidson’s parents, and accepted congratulations from both parties following the birth of his new daughter, whose name has not yet been named.
“There are no winners in this, in any tragedy like this, so all we can do is show forgiveness, move forward the best way we can and try to find joy in the midst of pain,” Abdallah told the Daily Telegraph.
‘Samuel’s parents called me and congratulated me on the new baby and I thanked them.
“The driver called me from jail the next day and congratulated me and said he was thinking about us and I told him he and his family were in my prayers.”
Abdallah said the unplanned pregnancy was a shock and it was two dreams of Antony and Angelina in the same week that alerted her to the ‘miracle baby’.
Abadallah introduced Selena to Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, who was allegedly stabbed in his church earlier this month.
The Abdallahs gave birth to their seventh child on March 18, 2022, whom they named Selena, combining the names of the two sisters she would never meet, Angelina and Sienna.
The couple said that with the new baby they are waiting for the perfect name, which might not be derived from their previous children.
“It is difficult when you lose a child, you have to remember them and honor them, but for a living child it can be a lot of pressure to live up to it,” said Mrs Abdallah.
In a recent Instagram post, Abadallah introduced Selena to Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, who was allegedly stabbed while delivering a sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in the western Sydney suburb of Wakeley on April 15.
“We are confident that Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel has forgiven his attacker, echoing the message of forgiveness that defines our beliefs,” Ms Abadallah captioned the photo.
‘Our heart goes out to him. Let us unite in prayer for Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel.”
Unlike Abdallah, who has developed a relationship with Davidson, Abdallah has not yet seen him in prison, but says he intends to once the family settles down again after the most recent arrival.
Davidson, who was 29 years old at the time of the fatal crash, was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison with a minimum of 15 years in 2021.
Mr Abdallah’s children Antony, (far left) Angelina, 12, (far right) Sienna, eight, (centre left) and his niece Veronique Sakr, 11, were walking along a path to buy ice cream in Oatlands, in the Western Sydney. when they were hit by a car and killed on February 1, 2020
After Selena’s birth, Abdallah posted on Instagram that he and his wife had forgiven Davidson “for the sake of our living children.”
‘Thanks to our decision we were able to have another child.
‘I took my daughter out to dinner on Sunday night and talked to her about the last two years and her new little sister.
“We can’t change what happened to us, but we can certainly make the right decisions to minimize the trauma we have experienced and passed on to our children,” she wrote.
‘Always remember that “raising children is contagious, they do what you do, not what you say.”‘
Abdallah said those words still apply.
“This is how you recover, move forward and lead by example so that your children know how to behave in the midst of future difficulties,” he said.
Abdallah said he and his wife forgave the driver who killed their three children for the sake of his brothers.
The Abdallah family created the i4Give day foundation in 2023, whose mission aims to “increase community awareness of the power of forgiveness to transform human relationships and provide resilience toward human flourishing.”
The festival will become an annual event filled with attractions, live performances and an outdoor film screening to cap off the day.