Wrong-way crash survivor can't believe it happened again

A woman who survived a serious wrong-way motorway crash three years ago has spoken of her profound distress after a similar, fatal collision on the M9 last weekend. Róisín Stakelum, who was severely injured in a 2023 incident, stated that the recent tragedy has "brought it all back" for her.

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I’m so upset. It’s really, really affected me. I can’t stop thinking about the girls and the little boy in the car that was crashed into, and what they must be going through, and it’s brought it all back for me.

Last Sunday, five teenagers lost their lives when the car they were traveling in was driven the wrong way down the M9 in County Kildare, colliding head-on with another vehicle. Inside that car were a child and three women from the same family, all of whom are now receiving treatment for serious injuries. A vigil was held for the family, who were reportedly on their way to Dublin Airport for a holiday.

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I just can’t believe it’s happened again, and that I don’t feel like there was anything really done to try to prevent something like this from happening again.

Funerals for three of the five teenagers, Joe Carthy, Alex McCarthy, and Kamil Pustkowski, were held recently, with services for Jeremy O'Brien and Jack Kennedy scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Stakelum, speaking on RTÉ's Brendan O'Connor programme, conveyed her deep upset and inability to sleep since hearing about the M9 crash. "I just can't believe it's happened again, and that I don't feel like there was anything really done to try to prevent something like this from happening again," she said.

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I was probably drifting in and out of consciousness, but I remember the headlights, I remember the big bang, and I remember being in the car, absolutely terrified afterwards.

Stakelum's own harrowing experience occurred on July 1, 2023, shortly before 1 am on the M8 motorway. She was en route to the airport for a holiday before a planned emigration when her car was struck by a vehicle traveling the wrong way. She described having "no time to react" and recalled the terrifying moments of the crash, the subsequent disorientation due to a significant head injury, and the lasting "psychological toll" of fear that has persisted since her hospital release. The driver of the stolen car in Stakelum's crash received a four-year detention sentence in 2024 after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death and serious harm.

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That fear has lived in me since - it hasn’t really gone away. It has improved somewhat, but I am still absolutely terrified of everything.