It's taken me a real long time to come to terms with this and I still can't even imagine how Sue is handling it. Darren's death hit me very hard indeed as I'd blamed myself for him being in PNG in the first place, as I'd prevailed on him to take the FOI job in PNG. I've come to realise that Wiz did everything he did after giving it careful consideration, not because of anything I might've done to encourage it.
He died in the pursuit of something that he wanted to do, in an industry with which he had a constant love/hate relationship. As others have said, he was never a bloke to quit just because something got too hard - he'd just get more determined to achieve whatever goal was in front of him.
I first met him in 2002 - at the same OzBash previously mentioned - an occasion where I met many other great people, in the flesh, for the first time. I sent him a photo from that Bash and he loved it so much that he made it his Facebook profile pic for quite a while. It really showed his funny larriken nature which was evident in everything he did though, at the same time, his professionalism was undeniable.
After he finally joined me in PNG, we worked together and I found him to be a very fast learner - the bull**** part of the job (the biggest part of it) was more often than not the cause for his incredible sense of humour to burst through. He'd become a very valuable member of the team even before I left PNG so I know that would've continued.
I'm going to miss you, Wiz! It's funny to think of it now, but at work I'd also address him as Wiz. If things aren't going your way, where yoy are now, just remember our common expression "Insert Picture Here".
RIP Wiz.
Commisserations and condolences to Sue and the family. I hope that his former employer comes good with the airfare to Port Moresby for you to attend to his affairs. Please let me know if there's any way in which I might be able to help.