A ray of light

When a drunk driver struck seven children from one family, killing four, their devastated parents stunned the world by forgiving him. The Abdallahs speak about the joy and strength that family still brings them, and reveal the very special new reason they have to smile.

- GENEVIEVE GANNON

Danny Abdallah lifts two of his boys up at once, supporting Alex in one arm and Michael in the other, while his almost teenage daughter Liana lets her mother, Leila, drape an arm around her and leans into her protective embrace. Storms were predicted for the family’s photoshoot and leaves in the garden are glistening from the morning showers. But up above, the dark clouds have broken and the sun streams down on the family.

“It was the same at the funeral. There were nine days of rain and I remember them saying they never saw rain like this in 30 years, and on the day, the clouds just broke and there was a ray of sun right on the church,” Danny says.

The Abdallah family was thrust into the public eye when a drink driver hit seven children from their extended family on February 1, 2020. Their first-born, Antony, 13, who loved to box with his grandfather; Angelina, 12, the family’s “second mum”; and Sienna, eight, with the beautiful singing voice and a star attitude to match, were lost.

Veronique, 11, Angelina’s best friend and the daughter of Danny’s cousin and confidant, Bridget Sakr, was also killed. Charbel and Mabelle Kassas, the children of Leila’s sister, Rania, survived the crash but have been forever changed. Liana, now 12, still carries the physical and emotional scars of the horrendous event.