It is with a heavy heart that I write this post and frankly I don’t even care whether I get any tips for it or not (if you are determined to tip me feel free to go to one of other articles) but I feel that what I have to say needs saying and I have argued with my conscience about whether I should post or not.
On Monday (19 January 2026) a terrible accident occurred not far from where we live. It appears that one car was making a left turn and another car ploughed into it (to be honest the reporting isn’t that clear). As a consequence, one car flipped onto its roof and then slid into a group of pedestrians who were waiting to cross the road.
A six-year-old boy suffered traumatic injuries and died in hospital a bit later while his mum suffered terrible injuries too. They had simply been returning home from his pre-school.
It was just a normal mundane day, nothing special, until a few seconds changed everything.
The whole community is in shock and MamaRah and I are feeling it particularly acutely because not only was the accident so close to home, but our older boy is a similar age. Furthermore, while I don’t go there that often, there is a market nearby that MamaRah often takes him to and given this the tragedy could well have seen them hit by a car.
Since then, when taking and picking him up from preschool (not the same one) I have been holding him that little bit closer and that little bit firmer near junctions. It has been a scare and not one I ever want to have repeated.
Drivers need to stop being such idiots.
Just on Wednesday (21st January) – a mere two days after the accident – I had to pop into a shop with my older boy after picking him up from preschool and needed to get across quite a busy crossroads that is managed with very clear traffic lights. Cars drive on the right here and right turns are allowed through a red light (usually when a green man is on for pedestrians) so long as they give way and proceed with extreme caution.
So, there we were crossing the road still in plenty of time with our green man, when a big bus started moving towards us and I had to scoop my boy off the road and get out of the way. This is especially stupid after what has just happened and believe me when I say murder crossed my mind.
At the end of the day my message for all of us. Hold on to those who we love and treasure them because we will not have them forever (nor them us). We hope and pray that they won’t be lost to a senseless tragedy, a life not lived, potential unfulfilled and hearts broken forever, but please, please, please remember that in the end our loved ones are all that matters whatever bullshit is going on in the world.
I dedicate this post to little Tomek whose life was stolen just as it was beginning.
As always stay safe and well my friends.
Disclaimer - the picture is not us
