Sister of Edmonton crash victim pays tribute to father-of-seven (From Enfield Independent)

Sister of Edmonton crash victim pays tribute to father-of-seven

6:28pm Wednesday 11th July 2012 in News By Hermione Wright

A man who died after an accident in Edmonton last week has left behind seven young children and a grieving wife.

Abdifatah Gutale, 30, from Leopold Road in Upper Edmonton died in hospital on Thursday, June 5, two days after he was hit by a van in Montagu Road.

His sister, Ruun Gutale, said the family remains in shock following his funeral which took place in Edmonton yesterday.

Mr Gutale was married to his wife for 16 years. His devastated children - aged one, two, three, five, ten, 12 and 14, attended the funeral yesterday along with more than 300 people from the community.

Ms Gutale, who was very close to her brother, said: “He was lovely. He was nice about everyone - the kindest human that you could ever meet – he helped everyone. He was devoted to everyone.

“Everyone is just shocked – everyone is crying. There have been so many prayers for him, he was well-known.”

The father-of-seven was a passenger in his friend’s Renault Megane when they had a near-miss with a bus on Tuesday, July 3 at approximately 6.30pm.

He had just exchanged insurance details with the bus driver when he was hit by a passing van.

Mr Gutale and his sister had spoken just half-an-hour before the accident, as he was due to visit her at her home in Ponders End to help fix her curtains.

She said: “Even though we buried him, I still feel him with me. I saw him half an hour before the crash –we were talking and he said he would see me in the next hour.

“I said come and see me because I wanted him to fix my curtains.”

The van driver, who stopped at the scene, has not been arrested and police are continuing to investigate.