There is no greater sorrow or pain than this. It cannot get any worse than this- said the letter of tearful 26-year-old Ljubisa Vidojkovic, who ran over student Frosina Cekovska from Kriva Palanka before the congress center 'Alexander the Macedonian' on April 3.
At Court on Wednesday, he read his letter to the parents of the deceased, in which he expressed regret over the gruesome incident. He said that after the accident he personally wanted to see Frosina's family, but did not have the courage to do so.
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"There are no words that can express the deep regret and sorrow I feel. Your pain and suffering are my destiny. Even though I know my words will not diminish the pain you feel over losing your child, I have a deep need to express my profound regret. I know that every day for you is survival, an attempt at catching a breath; it is pain and suffering, the minutes must seem like eternity and the day is never-ending. I wish I was not there that night. My life will never be the same again. That moment changed the lives of the members of my family, as well as yours. I will pray for the soul of your angel, Frosina, as long as I am alive. Countless times I wondered whether I should tell you how I feel, but I know that there is no greater sorrow than losing a child. It cannot get any worse than that", Ljubisa read with tears in his eyes.
While Ljubisa read the letter, Frosina's father looked him directly in his eyes, while her mother, sister and few other relatives sat crying.
Frosina's father asked Ljubisa whether he wrote the letter himself. Ljubisa said that his parents helped him with the letter.
Before reading the letter, Ljubisa described what happened before, during and after the accident.
"I will remember that day for the rest of my life. It was Friday, April 3. I was at work and we decided to go out for lunch since we both received our paychecks. We went for lunch to Leptokarija with a friend, and two colleagues. I had two-three glasses of rakija, and we got up," said Ljubisa.
He stayed with his friend Saso Balancevski, who was a witness in the procedure. Ljubisa said that they went toward Centar with Saso's Honda automobile, but Ljubisa was driving because it was a more 'sports type' model and he wanted to try it.
They were driving along Partizanski Odredi boulevard. He remembered that at the traffic lights near Simpo, he pulled over at the red light and was first in the middle lane. When the green light turned on, he took off and drove along with the so-called 'green wave'. He was driving along the middle lane, and another vehicle was moving on the left lane. According to Ljubisa he increased his speed to shift into another lane.
When he shifted, in the middle lane next to him, another vehicle was moving, which did not allow him to see Frosina, who according to the experts testimony, was running across at the red light for pedestrians near the congress center 'Alexander the Macedonian'. When he drove past the other vehicle, he felt a blow in the right front wing of the car, and the windshield. He said that before he hit Frosina, he was driving in third gear, but did not notice the exact speed. The expert report showed it was 85 km/h.
"After the blow, I shifted into the middle lane and lowered the speed, but I did not stop. I turned over to Saso, his face was bloody from the broken windshield. I turned to see in the back, and at that moment the entire back windshield cracked and the shards fell inside the car. My legs and arms started shaking, I told Saso I will take him to the hospital, and then I am going back to the scene of the accident. He told me 'I am not so important, we did something far worse, go to the police station, we have to tell them what happened'," Ljubisa said.
After the accident they went to Saso's house in Gjorce Petrov and left the car, then went to the police station on foot.
When asked by his attorney Igor Micev why he did not stop after he hit Frosina, Ljubisa said that he was in shock.
"My arms and legs started shaking, I was in shock, and when I saw Saso's face, I just could not think of pulling over, I wanted to go to the hospital and come back. We were terrified," Ljubisa said.
He is accused of the criminal acts against the safety of people and properties in traffic, and not providing first aid to a person injured in a car accident. Witnesses and experts gave statements on the trials so far, and on June 6, the prosecution and the defense will hold their closing speech.
According to the expert reports, Ljubisha was driving at 85 km/h speed, and hit Frosina in her legs with the front of his car. The defendant was found to have 1.23 per mille alcohol in his blood at the time of the accident.