Liveline host Kieran Cuddihy recalled being in a “state of shock” after coming across the scene of a fatal road collision which claimed the life of Brazilian carer Josilaine Ribeiro.
Ms Ribeiro, who was 36, was cycling an e-bike when she was struck by a truck on Dolphin’s Barn bridge in Dublin on November 6th, 2023.
The RTÉ broadcaster revealed on Liveline on Wednesday that he witnessed the collision while driving towards the city centre.
“I was the very first person on the scene, and it was a horrific scene,” he said. “I got down on my hands and knees, and she was on the road, and she didn’t respond to any of my calls.”
Unable to find a pulse, Mr Cuddihy said the car behind him was being driven by a doctor who immediately came to Ms Ribeiro’s side and began to perform CPR until emergency services arrived.
Ms Ribeiro was taken to the nearby St James’s Hospital where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
“Amidst the aftermath of this horrific incident, I was probably in a slight state of shock, my hands were probably shaking a little bit, and I had a vacant stare,” he said, though it was the quick actions of the doctor that “stuck in my mind”.
Ms Ribeiro’s family called for road safety improvements in Dublin following her death, saying she “paid with her life”.
“It is our deepest desire that her sacrifice helps the Dublin population to have better and safer roads,” they said.
Speaking on Liveline on Thursday, Ms Ribeiro’s ex-husband, Christian Velasco, said her family have been “destroyed” following her death.
“Her family is devastated. They will never be the same again,” he said.
Recalling being told of his ex-wife’s death, he said it was the “worst that I have felt in my entire life”.
“It’s not easy to see the person that you love, hugging her at the airport and saying: ‘Have a good life’, and then having to see her come back in a coffin,” he said.
RTÉ Radio 1 Liveline host Kieran Cuddihy. Photograph: RTÉ
Mr Velasco described Ms Ribeiro, to whom he had been married to for 11 years before they divorced, as an “amazing human being” who was “looking for a better future for herself” when she moved to Dublin.
He said she was “loved by the people she worked with, by the people she took care of”.
Brendan Swan, whose wife Ms Ribeiro cared for, said she left his house about 15 minutes before the fatal collision, which occurred at about 12.30pm.
He said Ms Ribeiro helped his wife Anne “every way she could” and “made her life worthwhile”, before recalling her “dancing” with his wife.
“She made my wife so happy.”
Anne died 12 days after Ms Ribeiro, he said, describing it as a “double loss”.
“We regarded Josie as a daughter to us,” he said. “I’ll never forget the kindness of that girl.”
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