The first hush of Saturday light lay gently over Templepatrick, where hedgerows trace the edges of Ballyrobin Road and early traffic hums toward the airport. Dawn there is usually unremarkable — a quiet unfolding of engines, breath in the cold air, the steady rhythm of a community waking. But on this February morning, the rhythm faltered.
Just after 8 a.m. on Saturday, February 14, 2026, a collision between a car and an airport shuttle bus broke that stillness along the rural stretch of road in County Antrim. At the wheel of the car was 23-year-old Claudia Jaczyk, a trainee nurse whose days were shaped by study, compassion, and plans still forming. In a moment measured only in seconds, her journey ended at the roadside.
Emergency services responded swiftly. Claudia was pronounced dead at the scene. The bus driver, a man in his sixties, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The road closed for hours as investigators worked carefully through the aftermath — marking distances, examining debris, piecing together the final movements of two vehicles whose paths had converged without warning.
Beyond the cordons and flashing lights, grief moved quietly through homes and neighborhoods. Tributes described Claudia as kind-hearted and dedicated, someone drawn to nursing by a desire to help others. Friends and family spoke of dreams not yet realized — of work, travel, milestones that now remain suspended in memory. In small communities, news travels quickly; sorrow lingers longer.
The reopening of Ballyrobin Road later that day signaled a return to motion. Cars passed once more beneath a pale sky. Yet the ordinary flow of traffic carried a different weight, a reminder of how fragile routine can be. Authorities from the Police Service of Northern Ireland have appealed for witnesses and for anyone with dash-cam or other digital footage to come forward, as they continue to examine the circumstances of the crash.
In places like Templepatrick, roads are more than asphalt and paint; they are connectors of work and family, of intention and arrival. On this stretch of morning highway, a young life — full of care and promise — became part of the landscape’s memory. And as the days move forward, the light returns each dawn to a community learning how to carry that absence.
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Sources
The Irish News TheJournal.ie Belfast Telegraph UTV News Police Service of Northern Ireland