Family speak of aftermath of deadly drink-drive crash

THE sister of the fiancée of Lee Salkeld, killed in a horrific car crash by a drunk driver, has spoken of the physical and emotional carnage the tragedy has caused.

Anthony Long, aged 28, of Leadington, Leamlara, Co Cork, was sentenced to five years and disqualified from driving for 15 years after killing Lee Salkeld, 26, and Brendan Donnelly, 24, in the crash.

Long had been travelling on the wrong side of the road after having six bottles and five cans of beer at home followed by seven pints, two vodkas, three shots and a line of cocaine in a pub.

Long fled the scene and walked six miles on a back road to his home before being arrested. The deceased and their partners had been on their way to Cork Airport in the early hours of the morning to get a flight to Amsterdam for a short holiday.

Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, Joanne Flynn sister of Mr Salkeld’s partner Kate, spoke of the impact the tragedy has had on her family.

“One of the most tragic things about this is obviously Kate’s loss and their daughter Sasha’s loss but it’s also Lee’s loss. His life was taken from him and Brendan’s life was taken from him.

“It is obviously the people that they love and the people that survive who have grief but it’s very important to remember that their lives were taken from them. They’ll never have futures. Lee will never be able to enjoy Sasha as she grows up,” she said.

Ms Flynn said she would never forget the night when she had to drive to Cork to visit her severely injured sister in hospital.

“Myself and my brothers and their partners were actually at a concert that night in Dublin. When we got the call in the middle of the night, we had to dash from Dublin. I had to pick up my Dad and drive to Cork.

“We had to go through the road where it happened. The road was closed off. The sight we were greeted with in Cork when I had to bring my father down to see Kate in the bed with her extensive injuries, I will never forget it,” she said.

Ms Flynn said if drunk drivers could see the damage they cause families, they would never get into a car and drive.

“My sister had to crawl from the wreckage of that car with a broken vertebrae up onto the roadway to try and flag somebody down to call an ambulance. She had to push Lee off her shoulder to get out of the car. What she has had to endure, nobody should have to,” she said.