The wife of late Labour Party MP Silvio Parnis has tearfully recalled how she remained by his side until the very end, even when he would ask her to go home and rest. 

“I stayed with him until the end, I didn’t even go and watch our son play,” Dorianne said.

"Even at the hospital, in the end, he would tell me to go home, but I would ask family to bring me clothes so that if something happens I would be here."

She was speaking during a programme on F Living on Thursday, over a week after her husband, who served as an MP for 24 years, died at the age of 57 on January 3 following a battle with cancer. 

She and her late husband jointly presented a show on the TV channel, Familja Waħda [One Family] until it was discontinued last June, as Parnis' health challenges took their toll.

Tributes flooded in for the politician following his death, with many describing him as a "man of the people".

'He was a very religious man'

During the programme, Dorianne recalled how she met her future husband at a party held by the founder of ALS Malta, Bjorn Formosa, 17 years ago.

"He was a hard-headed man with a beautiful character, and a kind heart always trying to help others," she recalled. 

"Everyone loved him, you couldn't help but love him."

She recalled how he was always positive and believed he would recover. He would always pray to the Madonna ta' Pinu and Pope John Paul II, she said. 

"He would tell me that God forbid I end up going through the same pain he was suffering," he said breaking into tears.

'He took the call badly'

Parnis served as a parliamentary secretary between 2017 and 2020 but was moved back to the Labour backbench in November 2020 as part of a reshuffle of Robert Abela's first cabinet. 

His wife said he loved working for the elderly and was very upset when the prime minister informed him of the decision to cut his time as as Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing short.

"I remember we were in quarantine when he received the call and he took it really badly."

His last coffee morning was held in Gozo, she said, and he would pray that if his health returned he would start organising them once again, especially in Gozo.

F Living presenter Karl Bonaci and Dorianne Parnis, wife of late PL MP Silvio Parnis on F Living. Photo: F Living Facebook

"People meant everything to him, he would be out all day, leave early in the morning and return late at night after parliament," she said.

"He would return home and our son would have [already] fallen asleep."

She thanked all those who attended the funeral, their friends and families and the doctors who did all they could for Parnis. 

"In the end, he had to leave us, and it has been so difficult."