The tragic deaths of three children in a violent car accident in northern Jutland last week are being mourned around the world.
Maria O’Shea, a Danish doctor, was driving the car with her four children – Soren (11), Saoirse (9) and Conor (3), and four-month-old baby Torben – when the accident took place near the northern Jutland town of Sindal.
According to North Jutland Police, the accident took place when Maria O’Shea made a left turn off a main road and overlooked an oncoming vehicle that was travelling around 80km/h.
The vehicles collided, killing the three elder children, while Maria and Torben O’Shea, along with the driver of the other vehicle, survived.
According to media reports, Maria O’Shea has lived for the past ten years in Pemberton in south-west Australia, with her husband Brian O’Shea. Brian works at a wood heating and wood fuel business in Manjimup while Maria is a doctor at a local health clinic who has been on maternity leave since the birth of Torben.
They were on holiday in Denmark visiting Maria O’Shea’s family, who lives in the region. Brian O’Shea was with his father-in-law at the time of the collision and was at the hospital with his wife shortly after the accident.
It is unclear whether Brian O’Shea is an Australian or Irish national, though Irish media reports that his brother is Kevin Dundon, a chef who has appeared on numerous television programmes.
The family has received messages of support from around the world and released their own statement last week expressing their grief at the loss of the three children.
"These were individuals who were our joy and our life," the family said in a statement. "They will forever be missed by us and by all of those who they have touched in their short lives […] We could not be more proud and honoured to have had the time that we have had with them."
