The Tragic Loss of Gabriele Glodenyte | Increasing Danger of Cycling on Irish Roads | Sean Landers

National Road Series cycling champion, 24-year-old Gabriele Glodenyte, died following a collision with a car when cycling in Dublin in May of 2023.

Gabriele’s partner Sean Landers, who was cycling with her on the day of her passing, joined Richie McCormack on Tuesday’s Off The Ball to discuss the tragedy and to appeal to motorists to take care to help protect cyclists.

To become a member and access our exclusive content simply click: here:http://offtheball.com/join

All the perks right here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfGDs3EEl0RHUwgdEGeCL_A/join

Have you downloaded the Off The Ball app?

– Search for Off The Ball app in the Google Play store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/de…

– Search for Off The Ball app in the app store if you’re on iOs: https://apps.apple.com/ie/app/otb-spo…

SUBSCRIBE to the Off The Ball channels:
– YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/offtheball…
– TWITTER | https://www.facebook.com/offtheball…
– INSTAGRAM | https://www.instagram.com/offtheball…
– FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/offtheball…
– WEBSITE | https://www.otbsports.com/radio…

– We are live on the Off The Ball app 24/7
– or if you don’t have the app listen on desktop: https://www.otbsports.com/radio…

PODCAST the show too – we’ll timestamp it for you as well
– iTunes: search for Off The Ball Breakfast in your app!
– Spotify: search for Off The Ball Breakfast in your app!
– We are wherever you get your podcast

GET IN TOUCH WITH OFF THE BALL
– WhatsApp: get in touch on 0879180180
– Snapchat: add us and message the show @offtheball1
– Twitter: follow and tweet us @offtheball and @offtheballam

Hey very welcome back to the show it’s Richie here with you this evening and uh joining us in studio this evening as well I’m delighted to say is Sean Lander Sean you’re very welcome uh to the show because the issue of of cycling safety

And all of that has been to the for and particularly with yourself in very very tragic circumstances over the past 12 months as well uh May 27th of last year Sean’s partner Gabrielle glenita H passed away after an accident on a back road while it’s cycling uh with Shawn um

First of all our heart heest condolences uh to you uh I hope you’re dealing with the the situation and and what happened um last May uh as best you can and thank you so much for coming in for for sharing your story which I know you’ve

Done uh with a couple of our colleagues already but um give us a a sense of of Gabrielle and what kind of a a person she was how how you met first of all and how that relationship Blen Yeah we actually met in a school we were not to

Went to the same school together um and yeah we just basically started our relationship then um we went to different colleges she went to Trinity and she studied management science and information system studies so she got that uh true like a fantastic leave insert um 600 points W um yeah she was a

Real real brain box um when it comes to academics um and yeah like we just we continue our relationship together it was um it was in Co kind of when the lockdowns happened uh in 2020 and she kind of picked up on on a bit of cyclum and

Initially Just For Pleasure um and she kind of took part in some local uh races that run here in Dublin with a group of women and she kind of progressed through the ranks of them and she Bally just got bit by the cycling bug um she went on

Then to compete at you know National level she did races abroad um Belgium Netherlands and uh she kind of progressed to be basically one of the top women in the country and in 2022 she she you know she was a level above the way she was ever before and she just you

Know she’d be the favorite going into most race she’d be the one to watch and lot go be looking at her um to watch she won some of the biggest races that we have here in the country and she won the overall series of so what’s called the

National Road Series which is like a collection of the kind of most important races that are done out um but yeah she was uh yeah she was look she was an amazing person really like you know very talented on the bike and off the bike so she

Seemed to be something of a of a prodigy in pretty much everything she touched like you touched upon there like 600 points in the leaving she was getting A’s in English when English essentially was her her second language to begin with mhm yeah it’s pretty incredible

Like she was I remember like cuz we would have been in the same year in school like and she would have been helping me with my leaving certaint English papers you it’s just funny like that um just even seeing the way her V lights up talking about her as well kind

Of speaks volumes of of the esteem that she was she was held and it was like you had gotten her involved with with with cycling you were the the one who would have been out on the bike most days as well yeah like she kind of just saw me

Doing it when you know there was we were stuck in our kind of 2 km lockdown and we were doing a lot of cycling on like you know the indoor cycling thing and uh she saw me do it and she just wanted to give it a go and then it became a way

For us to hang out as well then like you know we’d cycle together and yeah do do a training together yeah and that that’s what you were doing on the on 27 in the May of last year as well was was was cycling together yeah yeah it was I

Don’t know how comfortable you are about speaking about the day and and and about the incident like if you want to stop by all means uh you can always let me know but like uh it seems to me that you were out she was on ahead of you on the road

Was it and yeah so I just uh stopped for a moment on the side of the road um and she just went on ahead um and yeah like it was such a harmless day you know what I mean I mean it was just like it was actually

One of the first like sunny days really like kind of warm days of the year um and we were just out for a spin it was lunchtime Saturday lunchtime and um yeah when I was catching back up with her um I turned the corner and I just

Saw I saw her bike and it was you don’t rushed like I’ve never seen a bike broken in so many places um a car with a big dent in the front of it the wind screen was smashed and the kind of scary part of all of that was that she was nowhere to

Be seen and it’s it’s kind of like you know it’s hard to even remember exactly what happened and you know even my memory of the whole event is sort of in pieces as well but like I just remember first of all thinking that like you know this oh

Like there’s been a bike crash like I’ve crashed myself I’ve fallen off I’ve been in crashes in races she’s been in crashes and races she’s been in C crashes with traffic and you didn’t really think anything you know of it like and in hindsight when I when I

Think back and I think of the state of the car in her bike I think well how did I not know something more serious was happening but I didn’t and I started calling for her name uh because as I said her body was nowhere to be found and and

Um I was just like looking for her and she actually was quite far away from the bike in the end and you know it was good 20 30 seconds of calling her name before I saw her and she was upside down in the ditch and you

Know her body in not a nice way you know twisted neck Twisted she had quite serious wounds and I probably didn’t even fully kind of comprehend how bad it was even at the time I just jumped in the ditch and I didn’t even like at that point I didn’t even think anything fatal

Had happened here and I just wanted to pick up her hand and and just tell her like oh everything’s going to be okay you know but you know picked up her hand and it was just floppy you know I mean there was nothing there and I checked

For a pulse and her wrist and no pulse and I checked for a pulse and her neck and no pulse and I just started doing CPR to her um I just started pumping her chest and you know kind of like the image of that will I mean like like I’m

Suffering a lot with PTSD it and that image comes back and you know I can still picture the feeling of like the feeling of pumping her chest and um just we I just didn’t know what to do and I you know you’re it’s it’s such a

Surreal moment to be in and it almost feels like it didn’t even really happen like and then some people who pass by there’s a couple of other cyclists and drivers that pass by while it was all while I was doing that and we were waiting for an ambulance and they got um Def

Fibrillator and so I I cut open her Jersey her cycling Jersey to stick to Def fibrillator patches on but basically all I revealed from cutting her Jersey open was no there was no skin there and um all you know down to like all the top of her chest just ripped off

And there was nowhere to stick to the patch you know from all the skin and I think it was at that point point I just gave up and I just fell down on the ground outside of the ditch and just fell into a heap and started just

Balling crying and just screaming and I don’t know even what course can’t even remember that after that did did you call anybody at the time was there the first people you reach out yeah I called my dad he came down um the driver had called the

Ambulance um so they were on their way and I called my dad and he came down and I mean like it’s very hard for him also because like you know when you’re like we we’re together for S and a half years and that’s a long time for people our

Age like she was only 24 like and you know she became like a daughter to my parents as well like you know and it’s obviously very hard for him to be there and see what he saw and everything as well and um see being me in the way I

Was and it’s just kind of like what what do you do then like you know I mean we just sat on the edge of the road and we were there for a while and the guards were asking me just who she is and her name and address and all that stuff they

Have to do and um then we we I I didn’t want to tell anybody I didn’t want to you know let anyone know until I’ve broken the news to her parents um because I think they deserve to know and I didn’t want them hearing through some news article or through someone else and

So we just the first thing we did was just got in the car I left my bike there um and we drove up to her parents house which is like half an hour away and still in all like my cycling kit and I had Gabriel’s blood and my hands and

Arms and all down my legs as well and just knocked on the door and had to break the news to them and as well that you know what happened and that’s horrible you know and I even get flashbacks of that drive having to do that drive and you know you’re about to

Ruin their lives with the news and like you know it’s yeah probably some of the hardest thing I to do and then I let like we would have shared a lot of friends so I just let our close friends know what happened and I think a lot of them were

Just in dis belief you know like we’re we’re all the same age we’re all in our early 20s and it’s just not something you ever think happens your friend dying and I think it was just so hard for all of her friends to digest and even having to call someone of her best

Friends and tell them and it’s just that was a really horrible time those few days of just breaking the news um but I guess a lot of support came my way as well and a lot of people reached out and that was really really really good to have that support but yeah it

Was uh kind of crazy day few days course did you have any interaction with the driver um I not that I can recall um it’s all really a big blur um I was just so focused on Gabrielle I didn’t I I couldn’t even recall what who passed by

At this point I was like it’s your just tunnel vision you know everything seems stin of that St yeah just hel as soon as you realized that she was dead you did everything you could to change that I mean there was nothing I could have done but

No the the days and weeks obviously that followed that I imagine U Were were something of a of a of a blur for you has it affected how you um approach cycling or think about cycling um because like it’s such a profound thing to happen to somebody that you’re out

With your partner and that something like that an accident can can occur that that takes them away from you um like you you clearly think there’s there’s there’s an attitudinal problem as regards there not every driver but certainly the driver base as a whole and how they think about cyclists is is a

Fraud one at this stage yeah like to be honest like there’s kind of always been a little bit of you know T throwing and throwing with cyclists and drivers on the roads and I’ve been cycling for about 10 years now and there’s always been small bit of it

You know what I mean and like it’s funny like even 10 years ago like sure I was only teenager like and they’re still getting abuse like it’s it’s it’s funny like you know what I mean but I think it’s getting worse it seems to be getting worse and I would have said that

Before this accient that’s not just with kind of clouded judg now um like it’s when it happens to me now it sort of breaks my heart a little bit it really gives me a horrible sinking feeling that like we can get hurdled abuse when we’re doing such an innocent

Activity and it’s just it seems to be that there’s this huge divide between cyclists and drivers and drivers don’t seem to identify themselves in the the same way as say like I’m a cyclist by also d a car like I’m a driver and a cyclist and I’m a human you know

Underneath it all but they don’t seem to see us as humans and it’s I just think it it’s a huge attitude issue really with drivers nowadays and you know I even I spent um two weeks cycling abroad in uh Grand Canaria and it was a completely different experience it was unbelievable

The courtesy no one screaming at me swerving bumping and I put I put up a tweet that said uh something along the lines of it’s an attitude issue from drivers explaining that I just had a nice time in gr caneria and the irony of all that tweet was that the comments I

Got reply to that were just confirmed what I thought that there was an attitude issue really horrible comments um the thing that seems to come back is from from drivers will be that somehow it’s the cyclist’s fault that they’re taking up Road space it almost seems like that’s that’s what it always comes

Across it’s like uh pesky cyclist etc etc and yet do City Center would be my main area of expertise in terms of where cyclists interact with the the rest of the world and somebody put up the EG on online saying has D city council ever met a cyclist because the the provisions that

Are there for them in terms of cycle Lanes whether it’s City Center whether it’s not are poor to non-existent do you agree yeah I mean like again I’ve done a good bit of cycling in other countries Belgium Netherlands France like it’s a lot better infrastructure there for cycling like the cyclings are

A lot better um you know like I think cyclists get a lot of bad rep for sometimes choosing to not use cyclanes but it’s kind of the only people that would judge them for that are the people that have never actually ridden a bike on on that particular cycl Lane because

If you there’s some ones that are built so poorly it’s actually more dangerous to ride in the bike lane than it is outside of it and again I’ll probably get a lot of people judge me for saying that but until you sit on a bike and sit

In there with a 40ft Larry beside you then you know what it’s like you know what I mean sometimes it’s more safe to you know assert yourself on the road and and and take up the space there but like for a lot of time Dublin City isn’t like

Much improved um you know especially in the last I’d say five years like cycling TR the city there’s a lot more cyclanes and there a lot more more maintained so I think Dublin City I don’t think is a huge issue really is there enough done from a policing standpoint to protect

Cyclists um interesting question uh I guess they brought in the rule with the 1 and a half meters overtaken but I mean that’s so hard to enforce isn’t it you know to give cyclist one and a half meter space um you know I’ve heard of many anecdotal stories of just you know people

Reporting things to the guards and the guards not really doing anything following up on it be video evidence of close pass and their aggression um I don’t know sometimes a lot of this thing is just dangerous overtaking too um but yeah it’s I just wish that the

Attitude thing would drop you know and that we could all just like literally share the road and like the time that you hel are held up by a cyclist really isn’t that long you know like it’s you’re never stuck behind a cyclist for your minutes you know it’s always

Seconds it’s you know it can be up to 20 seconds but that’s about it and if you can give me 20 seconds and save my life I think that’s worth it you know like if if a person goes into a coffee shop and there’s a bit more of a que than they

Thought they’re not going to kick up a fuss and start twinging a tantrum and cutting people off in the coffee shop queue are they like and that could be an extra 2 minutes of their on their day you know but it’s just when you’re on

The road it seems that we have to be so precise to the second of When we arrive to our destination and it really infuriates me that I’m just a 25-year-old out trying to enjoy my bike you know what I mean it’s my way of de-stressing if I have a busy day it’s

My thing it’s you know some people in Ireland play GA some people play soccer like this is my ga you know what I mean and like I don’t know why people can’t give up 10 20 seconds of their day and sometimes it’s not even any time they’re

Held up just so I can have my sport you know at the end of the day it’s a sport like Gabrielle was an athlete you know she was a top athlete her dedication to training and nutrition and everything was um you know top tier and it’s just it’s unbelievable people that people

When they’re behind the wheel of a car just don’t seem to see that and just seem to think you’re an inconvenience that you’re going to delay their journey home by 10 seconds you know you said that the attitude towards like this has worsened in the last couple years like

How’s what do you put that down to or how how has that manifest itself I don’t know um I maybe everyone’s just a bit more stressed I don’t know the answer to it like I just you know I can like you feel it like you’re you’re out with like

People even I was out a few weeks ago with a couple of friends and we went to an area in wilo and we said we’re actually just never going to go back there because the abuse and the dangerous driving the speeding the wrong side of road overtaken into other cars

And them to squeeze Us in which it was so nervous like you’re almost shaking and you’re just like that was a Sunday morning like I just don’t understand why there was such an inconvenience with it like yeah I don’t know people just seem to have hatred on cyclist because they

See someone them breaking red lights and stuff in the city and I don’t know why it’s fueled then when you’re they’re out in a country on a Sunday morning but it does translate over to that it’s yeah how long did it take you to get back on a bike after

Gabrio was passing I went out the next day because I knew if I didn’t go out the next day I’d never ever go out again and I didn’t enjoy it spin the next day the irony of that spin was I went out with um one of my best friends and um we

Were about half an hour into the spin and someone was overtaking a cyclist the other direction came head on towards us we had to stop or to break to get out of the way and the two of us were just you know in shock about that and you know I

Started crying he you know he just it was just yeah it’s horrible but I yeah I got on the next day the day after and I just kept doing it um because I just knew that if yeah if I if I didn’t do I would have stop and she

Wouldn’t want me to stop and it’s my thing you know and if I didn’t do it it’s my outlet you know what I mean and I don’t know where I’d be but it’s been definitely tough um the last few months particularly have been really tough I think maybe a little of the initial

Shock has stopped and it’s kind of set in and I am very nervous on the roads but and it doesn’t help when you know you get close past and you have people like just overtake you and then just turn left in in front of you and all

These things that that happen but I guess it’s the aggression that’s the scariest part it’s scary KN that that level of aggression is behind of a vehicle which can kill you a weapon people are driving a weapon and with that level of aggression that’s scary it

Comes at you physically and and kind of verbally I think as well with with the way cyclists are kind of um abused by motorists on occasion yeah it’s quite often verbal yeah like it’s you know and especially like the scariest place for a cyclist is reading the comment section online and I would

Say this is going to be no different you know and when you see that these people are writing these things online with these views you know any RSA post that’s been done about cycling safety you go into the comments section and read it and imagine as a cyclist you’re reading

This it’s is a very scary Place knowing the people have these views are also the people behind the wheel of cars that are overtaking you and sharing the road with you you know it’s very scary like you know the way I kind of like to think

About it is like if you know with self-driving cars when one day hopefully there’ll be self-driving cars everywhere and there’ll be no humans driving cyclist will stop dying and that’s truth but if you did it the other way around and you had self cycling cyclist it’d

Still be knocked off the bike and then that to me shows you where the problem is are you being taken care of since then like I know it’s probably a bit of a a personal question but like you seeing counselors are you being looked after in that respect or are you just

Basically playing your own for all multiple counselors yeah medical support bit of yeah friends and family women there’s two ways that I’ve suffering like I’ve you know the whole PTSD hallucinations real Vivid hallucinations flashbacks just heightened sense of anxiety panic attacks sleepless nights that sort of stuff which I’m seeking

Help for but then also if Gabrielle died in her sleep I mean she’s person I love you know what I mean and we had a future plan together we we talked about what we’d do all the plans we had you know I like the loss the her loss is I think

Losing your partner is the worst person you can lose it they’re an extension of yourself you know what I mean like you know it’s yeah like I as I said if she just passed away in her sleep peacefully I’d be in a really bad way at the moment so

When you combine the two of those things yeah how are her family you do they’re okay I mean as good as you can be yeah um I mean I think they’re just it’s they’re finding it more difficult and as I am as the time goes on

You know like you you look at the funeral and stuff and you think like all the weeks after it and like you think that’s the worst it can be like like I was 24 shouldering my partner’s coffin you know and the funeral was there was almost something Eerie about so many

Young people in a funeral I’ve never seen anything like it just full of young people and like all that time passes you know you think maybe it gets easier but it just doesn’t you’re just really left with that void in your life and they’re feeling the same as me that it’s just I

Know they found Christmas really really tough and New Year really tough and it’s having a huge burden on them um yeah if you had like a a party message for us this evening for for motorists in particular and how they relate uh to cyclists what would that

Be I don’t know I just I just wish that people would view cyclist as more human because that’s all we are we’re all just humans and you wouldn’t give that the same level of aggression that I get on the roads and that all the cyclists who

Are listening will agree with me get on the roads you wouldn’t just give that to people you’re passing by on the street and just be patient you know be courteous as like I said you don’t go down into a coffee shop kicking the place down shouting you know cutting in

Front of people in the line because there’s an extra long queue it’s the same thing like 10 seconds 20 seconds onto your Journey won’t won’t kill you but it could kill me so yeah as regards your future you’re done going down the medical professional route yourself believe yeah I’m studying phys I therapy

So I’m on Hospital placement at the moment so I don’t know if you can tell but I’m quite tired as that they have they already got you work in the mental ER yeah well it’s not too bad but just getting through it I mean it hasn’t been

Easy come back to do that either but course um UCD offers some good supports for just for me and yeah just getting through it um the strength that it would take for you to get back on a bike I can’t even begin to Fathom the strength it would take for

You to continue on uh living uh in a post Gabriel world is um just utterly remarkable and I wish you every continued bit of strength that you can possibly muster and summon and uh gain from anybody else around you as well and um hopefully if this does anything it

Kind of opens people’s eyes I think to um the way cyclists are viewed by some people out there on the roads and and and the dangers that can await them out there as well um Sean thank you so so much for coming in and sharing your story and sharing Gabriel story and stea

No thank you very much I think it’s important message so thank you