MH370 victims’ daughter Amanda Lawton honours lost father with baby name
Four years after MH370, Amanda Lawton’s life was still in turmoil at the loss of her much-loved parents. Now she’s turned things around and found a very special way to honour her dad.
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By her own admission, two years ago Amanda Lawton was “all over the place” emotionally as she struggled to accept her beloved parents and MH370 passengers Bob and Cathy Lawton were lost.
She was not where she wanted to be professionally and personally – being single, living alone with her two Labradors in her parents’ home in Springfield Lakes, 30km southwest of Brisbane and suffering bouts of anxiety.
In her words “life after MH370 was a roller coaster”.
But things have turned around and the 33-year-old is in a much better space with a full-time job, a husband and a baby boy named Bobby in honour of her dad.
“Yes things have changed a bit,” the now Mrs Conlan said with a chuckle.
“I’ve been pretty good and a few things have changed including having a little one – Bobby has just turned two.
“And yes I’m married as well. That happened in August just gone and I’m working full-time back doing marketing which is keeping me busy.
“Funnily enough I had met (future husband) Dave in high school (Centenary State School in Queensland) and we went our separate ways and I just happened to reconnect with him through his brother and yes I guess it all just fell into place.”
On the possibility of a new search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight Amanda said that was great news if it went ahead but life too has moved on a little.
“I hadn’t heard anything for a while but yeah that’s good news,” she said of the likely search.
“If that (search) is happening that’s awesome. Absolutely we want the truth to be known but I don’t know, I think in my head I’ve sort of just tried to put it as best as I can behind me, behind my thoughts at the moment and just carry on with life. It just kinda consumed me there for quite some time.”
Cathy and Bob and two close friends Rodney and Mary Burrows had planned to take about five weeks sightseeing about Malaysia and China in what they described as a trip of a lifetime.
Cathy, whom Amanda described as her best friend, was losing her eye sight to glaucoma and the trip was so she could see as much as possible on the world before it deteriorated further.
Both families have waited for news of the final resting place of their loved ones ever since.
Originally published as MH370 victims’ daughter Amanda Lawton honours lost father with baby name