Where we were was hell: Anthony Maslin and Rin Norris on MH17 tragedy

The Perth couple who lost their children in the MH17 tragedy have revealed they considered suicide amid their incalculable grief “after the world ended’’.

Rin Norris and Anthony Maslin after releasing balloons in honour of their children in July 2014. Picture: Daniel Wilkins

The Perth couple whose three children were killed in the MH17 attack over the Ukraine five years ago have told how they found meaning and hope after “after the world ended”.

The ABC reveals the couple, Marite ‘Rin’ Norris and her husband Anthony ‘Maz Maslin, contemplated taking their own lives in Amsterdam in the hours after the plane was shot down in July, 2014.

They decided not to inflict the pain they were feeling on anybody else, the ABC reports.

The pair lost their three children — Mo, 12, Evie, 10, Otis, eight — and the children's’ grandfather Nick — when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot out of the sky.

In an episode of ABC’s Australian Story tonight, the couple speak publicly fir the first time, telling how their friends maintained a roster system at their home in the six months after the tragedies because they did not want to be alone.

Sharing the intense grief that consumed them after the tragedy, they tell how a “web of love” created by friends and the local community gave them the necessary strength to continue.

“Where we were was hell,” Ms Norris tells Australian Story

“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.”

The program tells how that in the early days after the tragedy, they felt just getting through a day was an achievement.

The Maslin family before the MH17 tragedy: Mum Rin and dad Anthony, and front from left, Otis, 8, Evie, 10 and Mo, 12. Picture: Supplied

“Our world as we knew it was absolutely over in that moment and we just started to say, “when the world ended” and that’s how we refer to it now,” Rin Norris tells the ABC.

Neighbours, friends and family surrounded them with love, bringing them meals, spending evenings with them, making sure they were not left alone.

The friends who came up with the idea of the round-the-clock monitoring. The “web of love”. ensnared the grieving couple in its silken threads of care for six months.

The couple said they are sharing their story in the hope it may help others overcoming immeasurable grief.

“It’s about being proud of who we are and how we’ve handled things,” Ms Norris tells Australian Story.

“Tragedy can be a source of strength. Tragedy can teach you things that you never wanted to learn.”

Three years ago, on May 10, 2016, the couple’s fourth child — daughter Violet — was born.

Baby Violet May Maslin was born in May, 106. Picture: Supplied

“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 tells Australian Story.

“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.”

“I’ll never forget holding her in my arms and feeling just a tiny little moment of peace that I hadn’t felt for so long,” Ms Norris tells Australian Story.

The episode comes as the fifth anniversary of the crash approaches.

In May last year, Australia and the Netherlands said they held Russia responsible under International Law.

If this story has raised concerns for you or someone you know, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36

Australian Story, After the World Ended airs tonight on ABC, 8pm and on iview.

Two weeks after MH17 was shot down, the Perth couple released balloons in their children's’ honour at a Fremantle Dockers match. The Dockers were little Mo’s beloved AFL team. Picture: Daniel Wilkins.