Spirit of NI Awards: Road safety campaigner Marie O'Brien wins Charity Champion Award
Marie O’Brien has been named winner of the Charity Champion Award, sponsored by Kingsbridge Private Hospital Group.This award is made to someone who has gone above and beyond for a local charity. It has been presented by Ian McElhinney and Leah O’Rourke from Derry Girls, alongside head of marketing, Claire Winter, representing Kingsbridge.After the devastating loss of her beloved daughter Caoimhè, Marie turned heartbreaking grief into a determination to help others. As vice-chairperson of Road Victim Support Northern Ireland Donegal, Marie has become a lifeline for families facing the consequences of road tragedy. She has personally supported more than 70 families, offering compassion, practical guidance and, sometimes, what they need most of all - a listening ear.Through the charity’s Drive to Arrive programme, she helps bring the reality of road trauma into schools, colleges, workplaces and communities, hoping to show young road users that real life isn’t like a video game. There is no reset. A lost life really is a lost life.Marie is determined that Caoimhè’s legacy will create lasting change, through her campaign for Caoimhè’s Law, which would make recording and sharing images and videos of victims at the scene of fatal or critical road traffic collisions a criminal offence.For Marie, every family supported and every life potentially saved through safer journeys is a way of making sure Caoimhè’s legacy lives on and her beautiful daughter is never forgotten.
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