Danny Abdallah details the religious conversion of killer driver who mowed down his three kids in Oatlands

A father who lost three of his children when they were mowed down by a drunk driver has revealed new details about the killer’s surprising religious transformation.

Danny and Leila Abdallah’s children Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, Sienna, eight, and their niece Veronique Sakr, 11, were walking on a footpath to buy ice cream in Oatlands, in Sydney’s west, when they were hit by a car and murdered on February 1, 2020.

The driver, Samuel Davidson, was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time. He is serving a twenty-year prison sentence.

Three other children were injured but survived, including the Abdallahs’ other daughter, Liana, then 10, and their niece Mabelle and nephew Tcharbel.

Ny Breaking Australia revealed in July that Davidson, a Maronite Catholic, was jailed because of the forgiveness shown to him by his family after the tragedy.

Mr Abdallah, whose family are themselves Maronite Catholics, spoke further on Friday about Davidson’s religious conversion.

Mr Abdallah (right with wife Leila) has revealed details of conversations he had with his children’s killer

He revealed how Davidson read the Bible daily and talked about Jesus with other prisoners.

“He says he feels like a monk in the mountain in his prison cell, where he feels liberated,” he told the Christian news site Eternity.

“(It’s as if) when Paul wrote in the prisons, he has Christ in him.”

Mr Abdallah said he asked the prisoner why he had become a Christian.

“Because I want what you have; your act of forgiveness saved my life in prison,” he replied.

Mr Abdallah said Davidson told him he felt his life was ‘done’ after the horrific incident.

He said he then turned to religion after witnessing the family’s faith and forgiveness.

“He says, ‘That depth of forgiveness is only possible by the grace of God,’” Abdallah said.

Ms Abdallah said she decided to forgive Davidson before she even knew his name by reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

“If you say, ‘I am a forgiving person,’ eventually you become forgiving by speaking it out in your life and acting on the little things every day,” she said.

Samuel Davidson (pictured) is serving a 20-year prison sentence for the deaths of the three children and has converted to a Maronite Catholic

The Abdallahs will speak further about their conversations with the killer at the Australian National Prayer Breakfast in Parliament House, Canberra, on Monday.

Mr Abdallah revealed he was going to confront Davidson during an organized prison visit, admitting he was unsure how the meeting would go.

In an extraordinary gesture of forgiveness, the heartbroken father reached out to the killer driver, sparking an outpouring of emotions.

“I shook his hand and he fell to his knees, put his head on the ground and said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry I took your kids,’” he said.

‘He cried and I cried, you can just see that no one has won in this.

“I was at a crossroads in my life and the hardest question as a parent is whether you can lose your entire family in bitterness and seek revenge, or you can keep half your family and find forgiveness.”

Last month, Abdallah announced that his wife Leila was pregnant with their eighth child.

‘Leila is doing well, she is pregnant again. I got one past the keeper! And yes, she has been quite busy with the kids,” he told 2GB at the time.

Mr Abdallah also revealed that Oatlands Golf Club had finally agreed to allow a memorial to be erected at the site of the crash in honor of his children.

Sienna, eight, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, all died in the tragic incident on February 1, 2020

The family hope it will be completed before Christmas, with Mr Abdallah saying it will bring ‘closure’ to their lives.

The Abdallahs had welcomed the birth of a baby girl in March last year and with another baby on the way, the couple will be parents to five surviving children.

The couple later founded the i4give Foundation – to coincide with the anniversary of the crash – to commemorate their lost loved ones and help others in similar situations.

The Abdallahs have also filed a civil suit against Davidson.

The legal action, which is believed to involve Davidson’s insurance policy, seeks payment for ongoing trauma for the family and for children who were injured but survived the catastrophic accident.