The Lives Changed Forever When Flight MH17 Was Shot Down
Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET on September 2, 2022
Jon O’Brien’s son, Jack, was on the type of summer-long Euro trip that marks an end to late adolescence and a step into early adulthood. Jack was 25; the seven-week trip was the longest he had been away from his parents. His travels included a road trip around Iceland, a train ride through Russia with stops in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and a visit to the Camp Nou soccer stadium in Barcelona. In mid-July 2014, Jack arrived in Pamplona, Spain, to take part in the annual running of the bulls, testing his daring and athleticism on the city’s cobbled streets. Jon scoured the internet for information on the number of injuries and fatalities related to the event as soon as his son told him of his plan.
In the early evening, when Jon was still at work in Sydney, his phone buzzed with a text message from Jack. “Did the bull run,” it read. “I’m alive. Rest easy.”
Jon was hugely relieved. The dangerous part of Jack’s trip, he thought, was over. Reports in about Russian-backed incursions into eastern Ukraine had hardly registered with Jon or his wife, Meryn. In the spring of heading to Kuala Lumpur. From there he would continue home to Australia. Jon and Meryn had made plans to meet him at the airport.
