M50 crash: Mother of injured driver says ‘someone has to face consequences’

The incident happened after gardaí observed a vehicle travelling north on the southbound carriageway near junction 12 at Firhouse at around 5.30am. File picture: Conor Ó Mearáin / Collins Photo Agency

The mother of a 22-year-old man seriously injured in a head-on collision on the M50 in Dublin on Sunday has said her son is “lucky” to be alive.

The incident happened after gardaí observed a vehicle travelling north on the southbound carriageway near junction 12 at Firhouse at around 5.30am.

The vehicle collided head-on with a second car while travelling at around 100km/h. Eight male juveniles in the wrong-way vehicle were taken to a number of hospitals for treatment.

“One of the youths remains in critical condition,” a garda spokesperson said.

The male driver of the second car, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital. Gardaí have described his injuries as serious.

Sarah Jane Fox said her son Craig is lucky to be alive, but added that “someone has to face consequences”.

“Craig is doing well at the moment. He is stable. He had some internal bleeding yesterday, but it stopped without surgery, which was a relief,” she told The Neil Prendeville Show on Tuesday.

“He’s sitting up and talking, but he’s sore all over, which is expected. He was hit head-on at 100km/h, so he’s in shock as well.”

Ms Fox said she only found out about the collision when her son rang her from a garda officer’s phone.

“If those children had been at home in their beds, my child would have come home to me, and I wouldn’t have had to go to him,” she said.

“He walked out of that car and then had to sit down about 10 feet away, but he still checked on those youths and asked how they were. That’s the child I raised,” Ms Fox added.

Ms Fox said she does not know whether her son will feel able to drive again after the incident.

“He has no car for work now. He’s a good kid. He’s kind, caring and a loving young fella," she said.

“He’s still in shock. It’s going to cause issues. I don’t know if he’s going to get back into a car again to drive, and he needs a car for work,” Ms Fox added.

She said that while she does not blame the children involved, and is thankful her son is alive, there “has to be consequences for someone for what’s happened”.

“What they have done is wrong, and I’m not minimising what they have done. What I am saying is that I’m not going to direct hate and anger at them while they are injured in hospital.

“I hope they make a full recovery and face consequences through the justice system,” Ms Fox said.