‘A bus driver killed my daughter but I still blame myself because of one decision’

Scattered around a kitchen in south east London are documents and research notes on the dangers of London buses. On the walls, pictures of ‘beautiful’ Ada Bicakci cover any spare space.

The flat belongs to Nevgul and Bora Bicakci, the parents of nine-year-old Ada, a popular girl obsessed with gymnastics and Taylor Swift, who have dedicate their spare moments find out why their daughter died.

Ada, who had just weeks before won the ‘kindest gymnast award’ at her club, was killed while cycling with her dad and younger brother August 3 last year in Bexleyheath. Bus driver, Martin Asolo-Ogugua, 23, had swerved into the kerb next to her while high on drugs.

Her younger brother, who was also taken to hospital, and dad witnessed the whole accident.

Ever since, the family’s foundations ‘have been broken’, and their home left with a sense there is something missing. Ada’s pictures, toys and artwork all remain, but there is no little girl.

The grief in their home is palpable. As she holds onto her husband Bora, Ada’s mum Nevgul tells Metro: ‘Everyone was her best friend. Her school friends now complain that now she is gone, they are getting into fights more because Ada isn’t there to tell them to make up.

‘If she ever saw me crying, she would always come up and wipe away my tears. Now, I can’t stop them from coming.’

‘We took a route we never usually take – I wish I had made another choice’

Bora tells Metro that the family had taken a route they don’t usually take to try to save a bit of time.

‘We needed to leave the house but we were all feeling tired that day. I decided we should take shortcut on a route which we rarely take,’ he explains. ‘I wish I had made another choice.’

As the three were riding along, Bora recalls how he could see the bus on the other side of the road begin to drift. ‘I then remember the bus’s tyres hitting the kerb near us. Then Ada was in my lap,’ he says.

From that moment, Bora says his memories of what happened next are a little hazy due to the chaos, but he remembers a bypasser called Sam managing to calmly take Ada from her dad’s arms and give the little girl first aid.

‘I won’t forget her,’ he said. ‘It is hard not be angry at Ada’s death, but there were some people who showed how great humanity can be.’

At the time of the accident, Ada’s mum Nevgul was in a hotel in Surrey with her own mother, who had flown in from Turkey on a visit.

Police officers came to the hotel to deliver the devastating news in the lobby her daughter was seriously ill, and probably would not make it.

They promised to do their best to get them to King’s College Hospital where Ada lay dying from a severe head injury.

Nevgul recalls: ‘The whole time in the car I was praying we would get their on time.’

‘We consider ourselves lucky we got to spend two more days with her.

‘I spoke with her, I slept with her, I hugged her. And I know she heard me. She knew I was there.’

Ada died two days after the crash, and with her organs donated she went on to help six other people after her death.

‘We are struggling’

After the family were able to say a proper goodbye to Ada as she died, all their efforts went into organising her funeral.

Around 250 people attended the service, which was a blend with Christian and Muslim traditions – and included some Taylor Swift songs, as they knew how much their daughter loved her.

‘Her favourite song ever was Cruel Summer which was played out loud,’ Negul explains. ‘It was a hard day but it really was a lovely send off.’

The criminal investigation into Ada’s death went smoothly for the family, but as more details of the driver and previous incidents came to light, the more anger they began to feel.

The driver was found to have traces of cannabis in his system at the scene and fell asleep at the wheel. He had been given previous warnings on careless driving.

But the specialist police officers which supported the family were ‘faultless’, they say.

Every day is a battle for the family. The couple’s younger son asks when he is going to get a new sister, and spends his time playing with Ada’s friends at school.

Nevgul says: ‘It’s like he’s looking to replace her. He misses his big sister so much.’

‘Why was he allowed to drive?’

Now, the family are doing all they can to make sure no other parent has to go through the heartbreak they have.

In their search for answers, it was found Asolo-Ogugua was on probation after other Londoners complained about his dangerous driving. Yet he continued to attend his shifts without question, eventually leading to Ada’s death.

In June Asolo-Ogugua jailed for four years and disqualified from driving for seven years.

‘TfL told us he must have “slipped through their fingers”, but this isn’t good enough,’ says Bora. ‘Why was he allowed to drive as normal when he was on probation for dangerous driving?

‘It shouldn’t take the death of a child to get him off the roads.’

Like train drivers, the couple are pushing for Transport for London to test drivers before every shift, and stricter sentencing for those found to have broken the rules.

Nevgul adds: ‘If necessary precautions had been taken, this never would have happened.

‘I feel the sentence was very soft. It shouldn’t have been only four years when he took a child’s life away.’

Bora said: ‘We don’t want anyone to suffer like we have. A bus knocks down one person ever month.

‘TfL need to surrender to the facts.’

Lorna Murphy, TfL’s Director of Buses, told Metro: ‘Our thoughts remain with the family of Ada Bicakci who was tragically killed in a bus collision last year.

‘Following the incident, bus operator Arriva has completed a full investigation into what happened.

‘We are now urgently reviewing their investigation to assure the root causes and appropriate corrective actions are being identified and implemented.

‘We are committed to being open and transparent and the findings of Arriva’s investigation will be shared with all operators so that all necessary changes are put in place.’

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