Story updated on June 18.

A man who was imprisoned in his own home for eight months as he waited for a knee replacement operation to be able to walk again and step outside has finally been given a date.

Mario Carbone has been unable to walk and leave his Cospicua home due to the pain since August and has been in a wheelchair since January – when he was hospitalised following a fall at home.

“My father just turned 63. He worked all his life, sunrise to sundown, to provide for his three children, so my mother could stay home and take care of us. Now he cannot enjoy his retirement because the system failed him,” his daughter, Daniela, said.

She explained how her father, who worked as a labourer, had knee problems for many years. Finally, after years waiting, he had a knee replacement operation on his right knee in October 2022.

The operation was a success, and he was recovering nicely. Then in February 2023, he had an accident and hurt his knee, leaving him in a lot of pain. Three months later, he was seen by the surgeon who operated on him and was told that the case was too severe now, and the family needed to see another specialist.

By August, Mario was told by a doctor at a private clinic if he was not operated on soon, he would end up in wheelchair, his daughter said.

“He was also told that he would get operated on in September 2023,” she said.

She said that surgeon Dorian Xuereb took interest in Mario's urgent case and a date for an operation had finally been set.

According to a recent reply to a parliamentary question, 510 knee replacement operations were carried out last year between January and November.  Until October 2023, there were 991 people on the waiting list for a knee replacement.