KEY POINTS:
The family of one of the Air New Zealand crash victims has been struck a new blow, with a young relative suffering serious health problems in hospital.
Bill Marsh, who lost his son Noel in the Perpignan crash, has spent the past week at Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland, where his 13-year-old grandson, Liam, has been in intensive care with a serious case of campylobachter.
Liam is the son of Noel's sister, Donna.
"He has had a few rough days," said Bill Marsh.
The family said they had decided for personal reasons not to return to Perpignan to bring Noel's body home.
"We just felt that Noel had gone over there as part of a team, so he can come back with the team."
The bodies of Marsh and the other New Zealanders killed in the November 28 air crash are due to arrive home on Tuesday - the day before Noel's 36th birthday.
Noel's widow Tracey is due to give birth to the couple's third child on February 15. She is waiting to receive medical advice before deciding whether to fly from Christchurch to Auckland this week to meet the flight carrying her husband's body.
"I just want to go home and put Noel to rest," said Bill Marsh. "It's been the toughest six weeks and now we are at Starship with our 13-year-old grandson who has been in ICU with campylobacter. We have been here for over a week with him now."
He said his grandson was "very tired" with the gastro-intestinal illness.
Bill Marsh said the family is still in the dark over the cause of the crash. "I have just been so frustrated by trying to get more information due mainly to the French."
He and his wife Joyce are struggling to cope with the loss of their son.
"It's still unfolding, really. It's a bit like a bad dream at the moment. But I still wake up the next morning [expecting] Noel is going to walk in the door."
The holiday season was particularly hard. "It was doubly sad for us because it was Christmas time and all the decorations had Noel on them [French for Christmas]. So we had to face the name Noel everywhere we went - we just couldn't escape for one moment the reminder that we had lost our Noel."
