Chloe Hayman: Mum whose daughter, 17, was killed by drink and drug driver says she wants to 'spare lives'

August 22, 2023

"Love you" - the heartfelt message a mother wishes more than anything she could tell her daughter.

But Danielle O'Halloran's daughter was killed in a crash last summer while the driver was under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Chloe Hayman was 17 years old.

The driver of the car, Keilan Roberts, who was 21 at the time, was affected by drugs and alcohol when he lost control of his Skoda Octavia in Fochriw, Caerphilly county, last July.

Ms O'Halloran told Sky News she wanted share her story to "stop other people from making those same mistakes as that driver did, and spare lives".

It is part of a UK-wide campaign to highlight the dangers of drink and drug driving.

She said she hoped Roberts "could feel and see the impact that it had on me, and [Chloe's] family and friends".

Roberts, now 22, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and banned from driving for 10 years at Cardiff Crown Court in June.

Ms Hayman's family are now appealing against the sentence, with a hearing set for next month.

"We all miss you and every day I'm learning to feel her energy through energy," Ms O'Halloran said.

"I'm learning to accept that I won't see her physical, but I'm learning every day that she's there somewhere."

Ms O'Halloran said she continued to feel Chloe's presence to this day.

"Just to say to you Chlo, that I know you're there, in the butterflies and birds and messages and music, I feel you through all of those, so keep going," she said.

"She loved taking videos, as did I, so everything is logged, thank God.

"I know loads of people would say 'You two, get off your phone', but now I'm glad that we captured moments, the silliest moments, the funniest moments, so that I not only can think and look back in my mind, but I can actually show others and sit and watch."

A national two-week road safety campaign by police forces across the country aims to target those who drive while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

PC Paul Rees is part of the roads policing unit at Gwent Police.

He told Sky News people should "find another way" to get home if they have been drinking.

"Find another way to make that journey," he said.

"We would also encourage other people, if they know of others doing it, then ring the police.

"If it's an emergency you can dial 999, or we also have social media platforms where things can be reported.

"We actively encourage people to report drink driving because it has a devastating effect on the lives of people involved in incidents as a result of that."

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For Ms O'Halloran, nothing will bring her daughter back, but she hopes that by raising awareness, more lives can be saved.

She is in the process of writing to her MP to call for more drug-testing equipment for roadside stops.

"By getting behind the wheel after drinking and taking drugs, it can be devastating," she said.

"It can have a massive effect on us all. So by me doing this, I hopefully will show awareness and impact on how it's affected me and certainly our family."

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