Danny and Leila Abdallah attended the funeral of three of their children with hearts filled with sorrow we can’t even comprehend.
In attendance of the event was their surviving child, 10-year-old Leanna.
The funeral service was held at Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral at Harris Park this Monday where their little girl was still having a plaster at her face to cover her wound.
It is not easy to think what a 10-year-old feels like on losing three of her siblings and that was exactly what Leanna was feeling as the family gathered for the funeral on Monday.
During the service which took three hours to complete, Leanna was seen sobbing and crying uncontrollably while her father tried to calm her down.
Her mother, Mrs. Abdallah, ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair, kissed her on the forehead and wiped her tears as the little girl tried to express a little smile for her mom.
Speaking of how difficult it had been for Leanna to deal with all this, her mother said: “Leanna feels miserable, she was crying all last night because she lost three of her siblings.
“From walking with two siblings, now she’s going to be walking alone.”
A total of seven children were walking Bettington Road, north-west Sydney, to get some ice-cream when they were run over by a driver identified as Samuel William Davidson.
Davidson, who had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, rammed his 4WD into the children walking on the footpath on Sunday, February 1.
The children included Antony Abdallah, 13, his sisters Leanna, 10, Sienna, 9, and Angelina, 12, along with their cousins Veronique Sakr, 11, Charbel Kassas, 11, and Mabelle Kassas, 12.
Out of the seven children, four were killed on the spot.
Leanna got minor injuries, Charbel is still in a critical condition, and Mabelle Kassas has been released from the Westmead Children’s Hospital, Sydney.
Mr. and Mrs. Abdallah regularly visit the site of the accident on Bennington Road, which is a sort of memorial of their children for them.
They go there and try to imagine how the whole thing might have happened.
As of Monday’s funeral, the family urged the mourners to follow a white dress code as white is the symbol of light, the symbol of life.
Most of the attendees of the service did actually follow the dress code.
Mr. Abdallah and some of his close family wore blue suits with pink shirts to signify the boys and girls they lost in the crash.
The theme was most rigorously followed by the construction workers from Abdallah’s family.
They locked hands to make a human chain outside the cathedral. A total of 360 workers showed up while only 200 were expected.
Inside, there was not a single chair empty in the hall as all friends and family attended the service to show support for the Abdallahs.
Davidson has been charged with a total of 20 offenses, four of which are manslaughter.
However, the Abdallahs are some really kind-hearted people. They have forgiven the driver and say that they believe in love and forgiveness more than in vengeance and hate.
Replaced!