INSIGHT: What took you to Coledale that day?
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| Yasmina Bianco. Photo courtesy of Julia Bianco. | ||||
MOHAMMAD: I’ll start by saying this to you, I drove a taxi for two years and I never drove in that area. But for some reason, I thought that day I would.
I ended up next to the stairs where Julia (Bianco) was sitting and crying. I looked at her and thought: “Oh I hope she’s not connected to the accident.” Then she looked up, looked me straight in my eyes and walked straight toward me. You see, you can tell I’m a Muslim because I grow a beard and she asked me: “Excuse me, do you mind if I ask, are you a Muslim?”
It was a bit odd! I was looking at her and I knew she was Australian from the way she looked. I told her I was and she said: “I just lost my daughter. Can you do something for me? Can you please make a prayer for Yasmina, my daughter? She was hit by a train. ”And I tell you, it just broke my heart because I have two daughters and I can’t even imagine.
I asked if she was Muslim because this is our main belief, to believe in God and destiny. She said she wasn’t, but that she just believed in destiny. All the people were looking at us and she told me: “Relax I know what I’m doing. I just know I need to talk to a Muslim”. So she got into the taxi and we prayed.
After she thanked me and took my number. But I was in shock; I didn’t take any of her numbers. Then the police called me and said: “Stay here, we want you to take someone else to Sydney.” That someone was the train driver.
INSIGHT: What was the journey like to Sydney with the train driver?
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| The Siaj family: Mohammad, his wife Suzanne, and twin daughters. Photo courtesy of Mohammad Siaj. | |||
MOHAMMAD: He was in a big shock and he kept telling me: “Oh my God, I just killed an innocent girl. She’s someone’s daughter.” I told him to relax, that it was ok and her mum was not blaming him.
I’d promised Julia that I was going to pray for her daughter, so when it was time for the evening prayer I asked the train driver if he minded that I pull over to pray for Julia’s daughter. He just asked me to mention him in my prayers. So I pulled over and I prayed.
To be honest it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. I believe there’s a connection between you and God all the time but, at that moment, I felt him right there.
I prayed to God to make it easier for this family and for the train driver because he is innocent, it is not his fault. I told the train driver that it was meant to happen. This girl was meant to die. This is her destiny. I think it made a bit of sense to him but he was still in big shock.
INSIGHT: What was going through your head on the drive back from Sydney?
MOHAMMAD: There was a big load on me. I couldn’t stop thinking about Julia. I came straight back to the train station but I couldn’t find her. The next day I went up to the station in my private car to try to find out some more information but I couldn’t find anything. The next day I worked all night and usually after working a Saturday night I will turn my phone off and put in earplugs because I have kids and I need to sleep. For some reason, I have no idea why, but I slept with no ear plugs with my phone under my pillow. I swear to God, I never do that but for some reason I did!
About 10am I got a phone call from a strange number. I was half awake and I answered the phone. A voice said: “Hi I’m Loris, I’m Julia’s husband. I’m ringing to thank you very much for helping Julia.” Then Loris said he would like to thank the whole community and asked can we meet you somewhere. I said: “Of course, I can arrange a meeting today, no worries.”
So I told my wife and friends that they were coming to the mosque and that we would be there for them. That day, we all came and spoke about the death and destiny and things like that. My wife and her friends were there for Julia because we have two sections: one for the women and one for the men. And we were there for Loris. We paid our respects and spent a few hours together talking.
INSIGHT: What’s your relationship like with Julia and Loris now?
MOHAMMAD: We are still very close although my wife, Suzanne, is closer than me to Julia. They meet up for coffee once a month. My explanation is that it was God’s will. What connected us is God’s will. What made me go up to the station that day was God’s will.
