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Danielle O'Halloran
Chloe Hayman, left, with her mum, Danielle. The 17-year-old died in 2022 after the car she was travelling in hit a cattle grid
A mother who lost her 17-year-old daughter in a drug-driving crash hugged the man who killed her as they cried together in prison.
Chloe Hayman died in July 2022 when a car driven by Keilan Roberts, who had taken cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine, and over the alcohol limit, crashed after a night out in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Through restorative justice, her mum Danielle O'Halloran met Roberts behind bars, seeking closure, answers and a way to live as a mother "who isn't just here to survive".
She now hopes they can one day speak in schools together, warning young people about the devastating consequences of driving under the influence and the lives it shatters.
Danielle O'Halloran
Danielle described her daughter Chloe as "beautiful inside and out"
Danielle, 37, from Mountain Ash, described Chloe as her best friend, "beautiful inside and out", who always saw the good in everyone.
After a music event ended at 04:00 BST, Danielle said Chloe stayed behind when her friends left and trusted Roberts, who said he had arranged a lift.
About five minutes from his house, he decided to get out of the vehicle and drive his own car so he could take her home in the morning.
Moments later, the car struck a cattle grid, and a railing pierced the windscreen, killing Chloe instantly.
Police broke the news to her mum hours later - a moment Danielle said was too painful to relive.
"The only way I can describe it for anyone to feel is, say you went to a petrol station and you filled up your car with fuel and your kids are in the car and you go in to pay and you come back and they're gone," she added.
"Your body can't cope with the fact that they're not there.
"Like at that moment, I was just in shock."
In the months after Chloe's death, Danielle said she was consumed by grief, anger, and hate, unable to eat, sleep, or function properly.
"Every time I remember getting out of bed for months and months, as soon as I become conscious of being awake, I'd cry because I'd be reminded of her not being here and having to get through that day," Danielle said.
Roberts, from Rhymney, Caerphilly county, admitted four charges in relation to Chloe's death.
After his sentencing in June 2023, her family successfully appealed, increasing his prison term to five years and three months and the driving ban to 12 years and seven and a half months.
Danielle admitted to being "really angry" and hating him at first, feeling that anger gave her some control.
But she realised it was harming her and refused to let it consume her life.
She added: "I just wished so many bad things upon him, I wanted him to stay there forever.
"But I felt ill inside with the amount of anger and hate that I had.
"And a lot of people can live with that because they somehow tell themselves that that's OK.
"But for me, I don't hate anyone, I'm not that kind of person.
"And I just thought, I can't allow this feeling to eat me up any more because I don't think I could go through life feeling this."
Danielle eventually decided to focus on understanding "every angle of the accident".
Gwent Police
In September 2023, Keilan Roberts had his sentenced increased to five years and three months
About a year after the crash, Danielle chose to meet Roberts, who was then 22.
"We were both emotional when he walked in," she said, explaining she had many questions, including why he had taken drugs that night.
Soon, Danielle realised Roberts had not set out to kill Chloe, but was just a 21-year-old who had made a "wrong choice".
"He's a human being who thought what he did was right," she added.
"I hugged him and said, 'I'm sorry you're the one who has to live with this'.
"I was able to understand it from all angles with this situation and it was tragic."
Danielle believes no prison term could outweigh the lifelong regret and guilt Roberts carries, adding: "I think actually coming back into the community is harder because you've got to face people."
She described forgiveness not as saying it was OK, but as releasing the "bitterness so it no longer dominates how you feel".
Meeting Roberts gave her closure, and she added: "I know that she wasn't in pain and that's something that a mother needs to know."
Danielle said society must do more to deter risky behaviours, offer community support, and promote wellness to shield young people from the "glamorisation" of drinking and other harmful activities.
She added that if Roberts had not felt compelled to try drugs in the first place, the incident might never have happened.
Danielle O'Halloran
Danielle wants people to "think twice" before driving under the influence
Danielle said she wanted to speak out to make people "think twice" before driving under the influence.
She said nobody wants to be that person who has the "life sentence" of having to live with the regret and knowing they have ruined someone's and their family's life.
Danielle explained how she spoke to Roberts, who said to her, "I wish I wasn't that person that did that".
"He feels my pain, he's an empath in that way and feels my pain and he said it's really hard for him to navigate through that because of how sorry he is and how much he feels my pain through talking to me," she said.
Roberts has since been released from prison and Danielle said she hopes eventually, when he is ready, the pair can go out and speak in schools, sharing his story so others understand the consequences and make safer choices.
"He [Roberts] always says 'I wouldn't wish this feeling upon anyone, anyone in the world'," she added.
