'My wife never rode a bicycle again after our son was hit by a car in front of us'

On a recent episode of Liveline, a discussion on the "dreadful tragedies on our roads" comes after multiple fatal road crashes across the country over the course of a single weekend.

There were seven road deaths in the one single weekend that has just passed in Ireland, marking a dark time for the country filled with grief and heartache for many families.

Liveline host John Cooke spoke to a man who spoke about his own family tragedy back in August of 2023 where his eight-year-old boy was killed while cycling his bike.

The man, named Suzar from County Cork, said that his son Andrea was crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing with a green man indicated on the traffic lights 

"The car didn't stop," he told John on Liveline, "His life was taken from us".

"We were out cycling and we used to that quite frequently on weekends," Suzar said. "On that weekend we were just dropping the kids to an event".

Suzar and his wife were both cycling with their children when the tragic collision happened.

The father said on Liveline that his wife never rode a bicycle again.

He said that his son Andrea would often wake up really early during the weekends to ride his bike, something their family did together regularly.

On the day of his son's tragic death, the heartbroken father told John on Liveline that he and his family waited "for ages" at the crossing for the green man on the traffic lights.

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When the traffic light turned green, the young boy waited a few moments and took off on his bike to cross the road when he was tragically struck by a vehicle in front of his family.

The young boy was seriously injured and died a few days later in hospital.

"We hoped for the better but the better never came," Suzar told John Cooke on Liveline. 

The driver from Cork pleaded guilty to the death of the little boy and was jailed for three years with the last year suspended and he was disqualified from driving for six years, according to Liveline.

"We are trying to survive," Suzar told John on the recent Liveline episode. "We have another child to take care of...we have to be there for him."

The grief-stricken father said that this week he printed off photos of Andrea to show to his younger son as they all try to grasp life without him.