Bob Sakr, the father of little girl, 11, killed alongside her cousins in the Oatlands crash tragedy dies of cancer – as his shattered family share a powerful message

The father of an 11-year-old girl who died in the tragedy of the Oatlands crash has sadly passed away after battling cancer for more than a year.

Bob Sakr, 53, passed away on Saturday and Danny Abdallah confirmed the devastating news to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

Mr Sakr’s daughter, Veronique, was killed along with Mr Abdallah’s children, Sienna, eight, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, when they were hit by a drunk and drug-addicted driver whose car climbed into the sidewalk as they went to buy ice cream on February 1, 2020.

Driver Samuel William Davidson was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for the four deaths in a case that shocked the nation and sent a wave of grief.

Mr Sakr’s devout Maronite Catholic family said that while his loved ones are grappling with the loss, they are comforted that he will now be “reunited” with his beloved daughter.

“This moment is a celebration for Veronique Sakr, celebrating her father’s arrival in heaven, welcoming her father to the heavenly kingdom, where happiness and joy never end!” said the family.

Mr Sakr’s older brother, Norman Sakr, said the family was still processing his loss.

“I’m speechless at the moment,” Norman told Daily Mail Australia.

“He was my youngest sibling and he and I were very close. At this moment we are exhausted and we mourn.’

Another older brother, David, also paid a heartfelt tribute.

“Today was one of the saddest days of my life,” he wrote.

“We put my little brother Bob to rest. In our hearts you live on forever.

“You are now reunited with your daughter Veronique and with mom and dad.”

The Australian Basloukit Association, named after a village in Lebanon, said Mr Sakr’s funeral was held at Maroun Cathedral Church in Redfern on Wednesday.

In June, Mr. Sakr said the cancer he had been battling for a year had “went into attack mode” and doctors told him he had about two weeks to live.

“I haven’t booked my ticket and I’m in no rush, but I’m preparing for what’s to come,” he said.

“I’m not one to say hello, but rather say, ‘See you next time I look at you.'”

Mr Sakr told SBS in February 2021 that he relives the horrific events surrounding the loss of Veronique every day.

“When someone has a heart attack, the heart muscle never recovers, that’s how it is with me,” he said.

He was not allowed to see the scene of the accident while forensic officers conducted their investigation.

‘I haven’t been able to see Veronique and that hurts my heart.

‘I don’t know if I wanted to realize she was gone, because I didn’t want to believe she was gone. I dropped her off. How can she be gone?’

Sakr said telling Veronique’s brother Michael what had happened to his sister was “one of the hardest moments” of his life.

‘I went to him. I grabbed him. I told him ‘listen’. He asked, ‘where is she?’ I said “Michael relax, calm down.” I tried to slow him down.

“I told him, ‘Habibi, Michael, Veronique is gone. She is dead. She is gone’. And he said ‘no, no, how am I going to do it, daddy?’ He said, “How am I going to live the rest of my life without her?”

Even in the midst of this desolation, Mr. Sakr’s followed the orders of his faith to pardon Davidson, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and a litany of other traffic violations.

Witnesses saw Davison drive through a red light before the crash, swerve counterclockwise around a roundabout and drive at a speed limit of 83 mph in a 50 mph zone.

Davison’s four-wheel drive climbed the curb and plowed into the group of seven children, killing four instantly.

“Forgiveness is very important because first of all, there is no point in saying you are a Christian or living the life of Christ or sending your children to Catholic or Christian schools if you are not going to follow in the footsteps of Christ,” Mr. Sakr said.

“Forgiveness allows you to move on with life with your child and family, without anger and without hatred.

“I pray for the driver that one day he will actually meet and find God. It helps me not to be angry, because anger is contagious.’

Davidson was initially sentenced to 28 years in prison with a non-parole of 21 years, but was re-sentenced to 20 years in prison with a non-parole of 17 years in 2022 after his original sentence was deemed manifestly excessive.

Mr Sakr’s wife, Bridget, said at the time that the reduced sentence was ‘unfair’.

“We’ve always said that forgiveness and justice are two different things,” she said.

“It was apparently a crushing sentence, but it was our children who were crushed.”

It was revealed this week that Davidson experienced a prison conversion to Christianity.

In a Christian Lives Matter podcast this week, Abdallah said two people in prison contacted his spiritual advisor, Father Robert Pierre, claiming that Davidson wanted to meet him and his wife Leila.

Mr Abdallah added that the prisoners were unaware that Father Robert was his spiritual adviser, whom he relied on after the tragic death of his children.

‘Of all the priests in Australia, this man talks to Father Robert, my spiritual father yes, and he doesn’t know that,’ said Mr Abdallah.

‘Well, he [Father Robert] reads: ‘I know Abdullah’s parents, I visit them regularly and talk to them, they come to my church’.

‘(Now he [Davidson] he goes prays the rosaries three times a day, he goes to mass, he does Bible study and he wants to become a Maronite Catholic.’

Mr Abdallah said he was ‘shocked’ by Davidson’s change of heart and was told it was due to the forgiveness he and his wife Leila showed.

‘I was shocked. I honestly did not expect at all to hear that Pastor Robert went to see him and spoke to him and that he had made his first confession,” said Mr Abdallah.

‘They spoke and he [Davidson] said ‘you know, the whole world should have hated me, but Danny and Leila’s forgiveness allowed me to see life in a different way.

‘He [Father Robert] he said [Davidson] kept saying how sorry he is and you know what he did was wrong but that’s what changed my heart.