AS she was dropped at a pal’s house, before a night out, Chloe Hayman told her mum, ‘I’m so proud of you, just know how beautiful you are.’
Tragically, that was the last time Danielle O’Halloran would see her 17-year-old daughter alive.
By dawn the following morning schoolgirl Chloe was dead – killed instantly in a horror smash by a driver high on a lethal cocktail of booze and drugs.
Keilan Roberts, then 21, had downed beers and knocked back vodka and lemonade in a nightclub before taking a combination of cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy and hippy crack.
Chloe was in the same club in in Pontypridd, Wales, enjoying a night out with pals in July 2022. She and her mum were so close, Chloe even called Danielle from the dance floor, urging her to join the fun.
But after Chloe’s friends left, her phone ran out of battery and although she did not know Keilan, she accepted his offer of a lift home.
Minutes later, his car careered over a cattle grid on a remote mountain road and he lost control, crashing into metal railings.
Chloe was killed instantly.
When cops first arrived on the scene, Keilan lied – claiming he had only drunk beer after crashing his car, but blood tests revealed the devastating truth.
He had also taken a reckless combination of Class A drugs.
Yet today, in the most astonishing act of kindness, Danielle says she has found it in her heart to somehow forgive Keilan Roberts for getting behind the wheel that night.
Even more remarkably, grieving Danielle now wants to team up with her daughter’s killer – who is already out of prison – to help other youngsters understand the dangers of alcohol and recreational drugs.
Sobbing as she spoke to The Sun, Danielle, 40, said: “At first I hated him.
“I wanted to find him and make his life hell. The anger was like a deep gnawing pain, he had taken my child and I didn’t want to exist anymore.
“But I don’t want to live with this anger, I don’t have any bitterness.”
Keilan was sentenced to five years in jail, but Danielle bravely asked to visit him behind bars as part of a restorative justice programme.
Showing staggering generosity most people could never contemplate, the first time Danielle met the daughter’s killer she managed to wrap him in a hug.
She whispered in his ear: “I’m so sorry that you have to carry this pain and this guilt for the rest of your life.”
While Chloe’s father, understandably, did not want anything to do with the programme, Danielle was determined to form a relationship with Keilan, now 25, and they exchanged letters.
She recalled: “My family hate him but I wanted to share my feelings.
“I wanted him to know how this had affected me, but I wanted to know how he was feeling too.
The anger was like a deep gnawing pain, he had taken my child and I didn’t want to exist anymore
Danielle O’Halloran
During that emotionally charged first meeting, Danielle, from Mountain Ash, South Wales, demanded to hear every agonising detail of her daughter’s final moments.
“I had questions that needed answering, like did she die straight away? Was she screaming? What did she say? Did she die alone?
“These are things, as a mother, you need to know about your little girl.
“He gave me everything and more.
“Everyone says to me, ‘I would have punched him in the face,’ but that’s not who I am.
“I looked at him, and he was crying. He said, ‘How can you forgive me?’ and I said, ‘If I don’t, I’d hate you.’
“He had to stand there and face the mother of the person that he killed.
Danielle even took a raw cacao drink – believed to be a mood enhancer – to share with Keilan and help him feel more relaxed.
She added: “I wanted him to be totally at ease and feel safe – isn’t it better to be in a room where there’s love and acceptance?
“I wanted him to be comfortable enough to tell me what I needed to know, because I’m strong enough and I’m brave enough and I’ve got enough experience behind me to be able to cope myself.
“Somebody loves him, he’s somebody’s son.
“He couldn’t take his eyes off me and I just felt really sad.
“The drink and drugs had taken him to such a dark place. Why was it that a boy so young had to take all those substances to have a good time?
I’m so sorry that you have to carry this pain and this guilt for the rest of your life
Danielle O’Halloran
“You’re intoxicated and you think you’re invincible, you’re not thinking straight – and that’s what killed Chloe.
“That’s something he has to live with. I don’t have any anger, just sadness.”
Despite the heartache Danielle, who is also mum to Jack, 17, and nine year old Alfie, is determined to remain positive for her family – while helping Keilan too.
“My kids are the reason I’m still here. But I don’t want to be a miserable, depressed mother, I want to be as happy as I can be for them,” she added.
“I want to be a role model for them so that whatever happens in life we don’t have to sit in sadness and go down that dark hole.”
Now she is launching a drugs awareness campaign, teaming up with schools and charities, urging young people to quit narcotics. She has left her hairdressing job to DJ at alcohol-free events as a tribute to her music loving daughter.
Although nothing will bring Chloe back, Danielle hopes that by raising greater awareness of her own tragedy, more lives can be saved in future.
Danielle is also calling for more drug-testing equipment for roadside stops.
“Getting behind the wheel after drinking and taking drugs can be devastating,” she said.
“Taking drugs at nightclubs and music events has become normal in our society, it’s glamorised and there’s no help. That’s my focus now.
“I want people to think twice before taking drugs, but I can’t do it on my own.
“I didn’t want Keilan to come out of prison and go back to the same place, to drown his sorrows and do it again.
Utterly broken
“I want to feel joy in my heart, and I want him to move forward too.
“He went through quite a lot as a child, not that that’s an excuse, but we need a system in place to support kids. There’s no help out there.
“We need to look at how people are living their lives prior to these events happening. Why are we relying on drugs? Why are we relying on alcohol to make us feel better?
“I had a lot of stick for saying that I’d forgiven Keilan very early on but I think it’s important for people to understand that forgiveness isn’t about you being okay with what they did.
“He is a victim himself, because every day he lives with that knowing that he’s taking someone else’s child.
“I will live without Chloe for the rest of my life, but I wouldn’t want to live with that guilt.”
Danielle says Chloe’s death left her “utterly broken”.
He is a victim himself, because every day he lives with that knowing that he’s taking someone else’s child
Danielle O’Halloran
“I thought time was meant to heal but this isn’t the case when you lose a child,” she added.
“If anything, it hurts more and more each day.
“It’s just too much – we’re not going to see Chloe ever again.”
Danielle also bravely relives her heartbreak in 999 What Happened Next, a powerful new Channel 4 true-crime documentary series that follows frontline detectives as they investigate some of the most shocking and complex crimes across the UK.
Through access to real police footage, CCTV, forensic breakthroughs and deeply personal testimony from victims’ families, the series reveals how seemingly ordinary moments can spiral into reckless tragedy that leave lives forever changed.
999 What Happened Next is now streaming on Channel 4