Crane driver Paul Darlington’s wife remembers ‘beautiful soul’ after death in M1 rollover crash

The wife of the “loyal”, “genuine” man killed in a horrific crane rollover on the Gold Coast has revealed her heartbreaking loss and the final text messages they shared the night of the crash.

Liz Darlington would often get a call from her husband on his way home from work, but on Wednesday the phone didn’t ring.

She got a message from him earlier that day saying he could be home late – a job needed to be done that night.

At 6.45pm he sent two photos of a boat.

“Still here,” husband Paul Darlington wrote.

The pair exchanged a message about dinner and it was decided he would go straight home, and not stop for takeaway like he sometimes did.

At 8.17pm Liz sent one final message, “can’t wait, having sandwiches”.

She never got a reply.

“I’m thinking something’s just not right here but I couldn’t think what,” she told the Bulletin. “I just (dismissed) it away, thinking that Paul would get home when he gets home.”

Paul died after the crane he was driving veered off the M1 at Helensvale and rolled down an embankment about 8.30pm Wednesday.

The 63-year-old’s death marked the 200th on Queensland roads this year – the 11th on the Gold Coast.

Paul’s heartbroken wife and partner of 30 years said she initially thought it was him arriving home about 10.30pm when she had a knock on the door of their Cedar Creek home. But when she opened it to police officers, her life turned upside down.

“They just said he’d had a crane accident. I thought he must just be injured and just as I thought that (the police) said he’s passed away,” she said.

“I’m like ‘no, no, no’. I even said to the police, ‘are you sure you’ve got the right person?’.”

The pair was brought together while living in a Southport unit complex after the breakdown of previous relationships.

She approached him one day in the garage and asked to borrow a spanner. Six months later they got together and the rest is history, she says.

Liz described Paul as “a salt of the earth man” who was “very genuine” – the type of person who didn’t care much for presents on Christmas or birthdays because it was the company he cherished most.

Paul’s crane where it came to rest off exit 62 southbound at Helensvale. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

“He had morals and values that he stood by. He just loved helping people,” she said, adding he was a hard and loyal worker.

“In our relationship, I wouldn’t have to say too much. It could be just the fact that you’d been together for such a long time, but we’d know what each other were thinking. Come hell or high water, he’s there for you.

“He was my partner in crime. A beautiful soul.

“He loves his kids and grandkids very much.

“The big impact for me is being on my own. Now I’ve gone from having a happy life with a beautiful husband to now being on my own, having to support myself, not knowing which way I’m going. I don’t have anyone as a partner to come home to, or talk to.

“In the blink of an eye it’s all gone.”

Police are looking at whether a medical episode caused Paul to lose control of the crane.

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.

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Originally published as Crane driver Paul Darlington’s wife remembers ‘beautiful soul’ after death in M1 rollover crash