MH370 - Daughter heads to Beijing to complete the doomed MH370 journey of her parents Bob and Cathy Lawton

• KATE MCKENNA
• THE SUNDAY MAIL (QLD)
• NOVEMBER 09, 2014 12:00AM
• 
  

Australia's Abbott on MH370: "We will not give up

THEY were supposed to pose on the Great Wall of China and cruise the coast of Vietnam, laden with souvenirs for their grandchildren.

But Bob and Cathy Lawton never had the chance.

Now, eight months after flight MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, their middle daughter is finishing their journey.

Pushing aside her own fear of flying, Amanda Lawton was last night due to touch down at Beijing Airport after almost two months travelling through Vietnam.

Amanda Lawton retraces her parents steps through Vietnam before heading to Beijing.

“Landing in Beijing exactly eight months from when they were supposed to is heartbreaking,” she told The Sunday Mail.

“It’s a reminder this is where they should have arrived. It will be an emotional few days, knowing they missed out on this experience in their lives.

“They were extremely excited to walk the Great Wall of China. I can only hope they are with me on this journey, looking through my eyes.”

Bob and Cathy Lawton, passengers on missing flight MH370, never made it to Beijing.

Travelling solo, the Brisbane woman said she planned to meet up with other families in China and Kuala Lumpur whose relatives were aboard the same flight as her parents and their close friends, Mary and Rodney Burrows.

With no wreckage yet found, Amanda said she was haunted by the “ongoing nightmare” of her parents’ fate.

She hopes that by completing their trip, she will, in some small way, find closure.

The Lawton family happy together.

“My life was turned upside down with the unexplainable loss of mum and dad,” she said. “It’s still really hard to comprehend how and why this happened.”

Reports last week said flight MH370 was likely to be declared officially “lost” by the end of the year.

While she was certain the search for the flight would continue, Amanda said at some point authorities would need to “draw a line in the sand” so relatives are able to receive death certificates.

“At the moment, we are unable to access any assets, or sell any property until death certificates have been issued,” she said.

“Once provided, we can then also proceed with international law cases. No money will ever be enough to replace the life of our loved ones.

“We want them home.”

Source: http://www.couriermail.com.au/