One five-minute phone call from a 'weird' number and Malakai Fekitoa's worst fears were allayed.
For 12 agonising days, the Wasps star attempted to contact loved ones back home in tsunami-hit Tonga, but could not get a dial tone.
An underwater volcanic eruption that had caused so much devastation in the Pacific Ocean had also cruelly cut off communications to his island of Ha'apai.
Finally, last Tuesday evening, his mobile phone rang out to the tune he'd been longing for.
"It was late, around 10.30 to 11pm at night so it surprised me as that's when I like to go to bed," he said, reflecting on the phone call from his mother. "It was a weird number, I didn't realise it was her and I almost cried and she almost cried as well.
"I felt she's still devastated from what's going on, the sound of her voice. All I care about is if she's okay. We didn't talk about anything else, we just talked about how is everyone. How are my brothers? My sister? How's all the kids, what do you need all of this and that, and that was it.
"It lasted five minutes I think as she had to give the phone back. That helped me relax a little bit in the build-up for my return to play."
With the weight of the world on his shoulders, Fekitoa found the energy and drive to launch an 'All With Tonga' fundraising appeal that has smashed its initial £50,000 target - while also finishing his rehabilitation from a second shoulder operation in as many years.
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His comeback from four months out came from the bench against Saracens, in a game Wasps dedicated to helping the fund by donating 20 per cent of ticket revenues.
Once that decision was made, the former All Blacks centre's focus was firmly on being a part of the squad for the Coventry Building Society Arena clash.
"I think I was coming back a week later," he said. "I really wanted to come back and show my appreciation to the people and give everything I've got, and hopefully help the team win. That's why I came out here a week earlier because the club have done a lot for me and I wanted to give my best.
"To see the support is massive for us and the people back home. I think it means a lot to the people and just grateful for the guys showing up and also the club. Everyone at Wasps has been very supportive in the last couple of weeks."
Fekitoa's conduct left Wasps head coach Lee Blackett in awe of his big-name star, who arrived on the pitch with 28 minutes to go and exploded into action with ferocious ball-carrying that helped Wasps secure a fourth successive home victory.
"Imagine being the other side of the world, not knowing whether your mum's alive, your family, honestly it's pretty emotional speaking about something like that," Blackett said.
"The guy is unbelievable. How he's held it together over the last few weeks. Then he goes out on the field and the training field, he's leading. And then to get the news of the start, that rollercoaster he's been on the last week so to then find out he's playing as well his first game and to come out and play the way he did, I can't say enough about the bloke."
While the week started and ended on a positive note for Fekitoa, the battle is far from over in his home nation.
"My home is okay, my family home is okay, just around the house and those next to the water were affected," he explained.
"But most of the islands around my island group were all wiped out. And I think that's where the supplies are going to go, straight to the smaller islands and back to my island as well, I think they need it the most.
"We're waiting now, we've got a few suppliers, a supermarket a place that provides all the water for us and things like that. Packets of tools and hopefully we can sort that out. You don't want to rush as well, because now there's a lot of help on the way and it's going to go out in the next month. We need to be sending stuff that's going to last a little while."
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