“We considered taking our lives:” MH317 parents speak out
<p>Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris both admitted they “considered suicide” after learning of the death of their three children, Otis, 8, Evie, 10 and Mo Maslin, 12.</p>
<p>The three children were on their way back home to Perth, Western Australia, when they boarded the MH17 flight alongside their grandfather Nick Norris, 68.</p>
<p>Both parents said they had sent their “open-minded” and “welcoming” youngsters back home early from their holidays in the Netherlands to start the school term, while they “finalised some matters".</p>
<p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7827606/my-australian-story.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0c9ac4b7bff346f8adbe99de8c7ae2ee" /><em>Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris</em></p>
<p>Just hours after the plane went into the air on July 17, 2014 the 283 passengers and 15 crew on board, including the couple’s three children and Maslin’s father Nick, were killed.</p>
<p>Now, almost five years later, the couple have opened up about how they considered taking their own lives after they learnt that the plane had been downed while flying over Eastern Ukraine.</p>
<p> <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.0304449648712px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7827603/grandfather.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/7e7a8844fba7409584ca90e619dec974" /></p>
<p><em>Nick Norris.</em></p>
<p>In a new interview with <em>Australian Story</em>, Norris admitted they were both in “hell”.</p>
<p>“Where we are now is a different place, and what we feel we owe to the Australian public is to let you know how we got to where we are now.”</p>
<p>In a gut wrenching tell-all, the couple explained they were leaning out the window of their Amsterdam apartment hours after they had heard of the crash.</p>
<p>However, the couple chose not to jump together to avoid inflicting their pain onto others.</p>
<p>“Our kids were citizens of the world,” Maislin said.</p>
<p>“They were really open-minded and really welcoming to all people."</p>
<p>Maslin and Norris explained joy “returned” to their lives after the arrival of their fourth child.</p>
<p>“We started to think about the possibility of having another child quite soon after the world ended because it was a tiny glimmer of hope that our life might not be continuously and forever just lost,” Ms Norris says.</p>
<p>“So when I found out I was pregnant I was obviously happy but also worried because I’d known how to parent three children but parenting one little one who would live in the shadow of this tragedy was a pretty daunting task.”</p>
<p>Mr Maslin says that with the birth of Violet he is now the proud father of four children.</p>
<p>“And that’s a lucky guy in anyone’s language,” he says.</p>
<p>“You might not be able to see three of them but that doesn’t mean they’re not here.”</p>
<p><em>If you, or anyone else you know, needs support please contact <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/" target="_blank">Lifeline</a> on 13 11 14 or <a rel="noopener" href="https://kidshelpline.com.au/" target="_blank">Kids Helpline</a> on 1800 55 1800.</em></p>
