On Saturday, May 27th, 2023 champion cyclist Gabriele Glodenyte was out on her bike for a morning spin in north county Dublin with her boyfriend Seán Landers.
Gabriele was 24 years-old, a vibrant young woman who shone at everything she did.
But what started as a typical, carefree day for the young couple ended in tragedy.
Gabriele was killed instantly when an oncoming driver crashed his car.
Seán (25) came upon the scene moments later and he tells of finding first her mangled bicycle on the road and then her fatally injured body.
As the terrible shock has given way to deep grief, Seán wants to tell the story of that dreadful day in hopes, he says, that motorists will realise just how vulnerable cyclists are.
“I want to be able to tell that story to make a difference,” he tells Bernice Harrison on today’s In the News podcast, “to try get some goodness out of the worst thing that could have ever happened to me”.
In the ten years since he took up cycling, it has become increasingly dangerous for cyclists with drivers behaving more aggressively, he says.
More than 1,600 cyclists have suffered serious crash injuries on Irish roads over the last seven years.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.
