Grieving family

“Dad sits on a cloud and looks down”

Tanja W. mourns the loss of her husband, her children Liya, Sara, Jona, Jannik and Fynn (from left) miss their dad.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel)

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, are now facing major worries about their future and urgently need financial support. 

"You could always get anything from him, the most important thing was that the children and I were well." When Tanja W. talks about her husband and the father of her five children during the visit from the "Krone", there is still a sparkle in her eyes. She and Josef were together for 18 years, they started building a house in 2010 and got married in 2015. Sara (11), Jannik (9), Fynn (6), Liya (3) and Jona (1) made the family happiness perfect.

Deceased at the scene of the accident
Before everything suddenly changed on May 21 this year, Sepp, as he was affectionately known, was involved in an accident in Sierning on his way to a construction site with the company bus. The 60-year-old suffered such serious injuries that he died at the scene of the accident.

"We had been on the phone an hour beforehand, then at around 12 o'clock the police suddenly turned 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 now," recalls Tanja, who not only lost the love of her life out of nowhere, but was suddenly faced with huge worries and even fears about the future.

Spending time with her five children is particularly important to Tanja W. and also helps the 37-year-old to cope with the loss of her beloved husband a little more easily.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel)

Around 200,000 euros in debt
"The endowment insurance had previously expired, but he didn't get a new one due to his pre-existing conditions and his age. In addition, we still have around 200,000 euros in debt for the house and I have to pay the children their compulsory portion, even though they are minors," says the 37-year-old about the enormous financial burdens she now has to cope with alone.

"Often asks about dad"
Going to work is almost impossible for the widow. She needs her five children too much, for whom she sacrifices all the strength she has left. "Things are slowly getting better, but they often ask about their dad. They talk as if he's there, but somehow he's somewhere else. Fynn always says that daddy is up there on the cloud looking down on us!"

Sara and her four siblings will also keep old family photos as a reminder of their beloved dad.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel)

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Chains as a reminder
The family also visits the grave at the cemetery in St. Martin im Mühlkreis at least once a week. "This is also very important to them, they always bring him things they have made and tell him stories," explains Tanja, who will be giving her children a special gift for Christmas. "They will all get a necklace with his ashes and a fingerprint. It's important to me that they have a memento of their dad that they can hang around their necks so that he's always with them!"