A father from St. Martin im Mühlkreis (Upper Austria) was killed in a devastating traffic accident in May. His wife Tanja and their five children, aged between one and eleven years old, are now faced with great concerns about the future and are in urgent need of financial support.
“You could always get everything from him, the most important thing was that the children and I were doing well.” When Tanja W. spoke about her husband and the father of her five children during a visit from the ‘Krone’, it was still a twinkle in her eyes. She and Josef were together for 18 years, the construction of the house started in 2010 and they got married in 2015. Sara (11), Jannik (9), Fynn (6), Liya (3) and Jona (1) made the family happiness perfect .
Died at the scene of the accident
Before everything suddenly changed, when on May 21 this year, Sepp, as he was affectionately called, was involved in an accident in Sierning in the company bus on the way to a construction site. The 60-year-old was so seriously injured that he died at the scene of the accident.
“We had been on the phone an hour earlier, but then around 12 noon the police suddenly showed up at the door and said that Sepp had had an accident and was in the morgue. I just couldn’t believe it, it’s still very surreal even now,” recalls Tanja, who not only lost the love of her life out of nowhere, but was suddenly confronted with great worries and even fears for the future.
About 200,000 euros in debt
“The life insurance had previously expired, but due to his previous illnesses and his age, he could not get a new one. We also still owe around 200,000 euros on the house and I have to pay the children their obligatory share, even though they are minors,” says the 37-year-old about the enormous financial burden she now has to bear alone.
“Ask often about dad”
It is virtually impossible for the widow to go to work. She needs her five children too much, for whom she sacrifices all the strength she has left. “Things are slowly improving, but they often ask about their father. They talk as if he is there, but somehow he is somewhere else. Fynn always says that daddy sits up there on the cloud looking down on us!”
Necklaces as memories
The family also visits the grave at the cemetery in St. Martin im Mühlkreis at least once a week. “That is also very important for them, they always bring him the things they have made and tell him stories,” says Tanja, who gives her children a special gift at Christmas. “They all get a necklace with his ashes and a fingerprint on it. I think it’s important that they have a memento of their father that they can hang around their neck, so that he is always with them!”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
