A Perth wife’s agonising wait

Danica Weeks, with her sons Lincoln, 3, and Jack, 11 months, continues to wait for answers about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Source: News Limited

Paul and Danica Weeks. Source: News Limited

Danica Weeks, the wife of Paul Weeks who was on Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, waits for answers in Perth. Source: News Limited

Danica Weeks is trying to remain strong for her and her missing husband Paul's children, Lincoln, 3, and Jack, 11 months. Source: News Limited

A FEW days before Paul Weeks set off for his dream job he did what any loving husband and father would do, he made time.

Having come close to death twice before, he wasn't one to count each day, he'd rather make each day count.

So, in the 72 hours before he boarded Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, he took his elder son Lincoln, his "little shadow", to the zoo, organised a special golf cart ride for them around The Vines resort, and played a bit of cricket with him in the backyard.

He hosted a family dinner with his mum and brother, spent almost an entire day bonding with his boys, finished painting the house and even found time to buy a couple of pairs of new jeans.

The mechanical engineer from New Zealand, who moved to WA after the Christchurch earthquakes, was about to start his first four-week stint in Mongolia.

And while he was looking forward to it, he was also dreading being away from those he loved.

His wife Danica, who has spent the past week in unimaginable turmoil, told The Sunday Times her husband, a former Kiwi soldier, loved being a dad and never took their family for granted.

And he made sure they knew it.

Seconds after he kissed them goodbye at the departure gates, he sent an email saying he missed them already.

As she drove away from the airport Danica said she couldn't stop crying. She wasn't looking forward to a month without the "best friend" she met at the Munich Beer Fest 14 years ago, aged 23.

But when she got home that Friday evening she was more at ease with the idea she was now a FIFO wife.

The pair had met backpacking in Europe, then moved into a London share house together within two weeks.

September 11 led the couple back to New Zealand and the Christchurch earthquakes made them move to Perth.

Mongolia was just the next chapter in their well-travelled lives.

So she sent him an email back saying she had to wear her sunnies at Lincoln's soccer practice to hide her bloodshot eyes and was then in the midst of continuing their Friday night tradition of drinking tea, eating Gingernut biscuits and watching Escape to the Country.

She went to bed soon after, not realising Paul had replied to her email. Early the next day she left the house to run a few errands. It wasn't until she arrived home on Saturday afternoon that she read his message.

"He had written back saying, 'yeah, yeah, yeah I love you too. You are my world, you complete me you and the boys'," she said. "I left Skype on because he said he couldn't call from KL because the wi-fi wasn't that good, but that he would ring once he landed in Beijing. But of course he never rang."

About 10 minutes later, and around six hours after the first reports that MH370 had disappeared, the Perth mum received the devastating news from a journalist in New Zealand.

"The lady asked (me) if Paul Weeks was there and I said, 'no, he is on his way to Mongolia'," she explained.

"And she said, 'when did you last speak to him?' I told her that he emailed me from the airport lounge (in KL) and that was the last I heard from him. Then she said, 'oh you don't know'. And I said, 'what is this all about?'

"She just said you need to ring the New Zealand Consulate, there's been an incident.

"Well of course I instantly thought 'crashed plane'. I then ran out to the backyard and started screaming."

Minutes later Paul's family, who live five doors down, popped round.

"They had heard about the plane that morning but hadn't put two and two together," Danica said.

Immediately the family scrambled to find out what they could.

They tried contacting the New Zealand consulate but ended up calling the Australian authorities by mistake who were able to confirm Paul was on Flight MH370. Even at this stage they still had no official notification from anyone about the missing plane.

It wasn't until about 6pm that evening that she received the first phone call from the airline.

Since then, Danica has been on a roller-coaster ride of emotions.

She is aware that as each day passes, it is unlikely her husband will walk through their front door, but she still has hope.

"That's the hardest part," she said. "There is a part of me that doesn't want to know, a part that wants to be blissfully unaware and cling on to some hope, but I know eventually I need to accept it.

"I need to know if my Paulie is coming back and if he is not then I have to adjust to that with the boys."

Just before New Year's Eve the family were involved in a major car accident not far from their home.

"The crash was a massive wake-up call," she explained. "After that we decided to sort our wills.

"We also talked about what each of us would do if the unthinkable happened.

"He asked me how I would bring up the kids without him.

"I said, 'no I don't want to do that', but then he said I had to. He said, 'I need to tell you my wishes', and so I told him mine.

"I'm glad we had that talk."

Part of that talk, she revealed, was a promise to keep him alive.

So for the past week Danica has taken part in dozens of media interviews in a bid to make sure her husband was not just another passenger on board the missing plane.

She said she always remembered feeling so incredibly drawn to the stories of the three Irish doctors who perished on Air France Flight 447.

"It was just so tragic; they were all coming back for their dream jobs and they had such a future ahead of them," she said. "And with Paul saying he wanted me to keep him alive, I just thought that even if just one person read something about him they would get an idea of who Paul Weeks was.

"Plus I want there to be something tangible for the boys. I hope that one day they will think, 'great mum you got to say something about dad'.

"I adore that man and I want the whole world to know."

Danica was tonight too upset to speak about the latest reports the plane may have been hijacked.

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