Renowned actor Manuel Cauchi has brought to life countless characters burdened by misfortune in his TV and film appearances, but no role could have prepared him for the heartbreaking reality he faced – his wife's six-year battle with cancer, which tragically ended last Christmas Day.
Veronica died on December 25, at the age of 70, after 38 years of marriage to Manuel.
“It really hit me when I realised I couldn’t share my life with her anymore,” the veteran actor told Times of Malta.
“I love photography, but when I take photos now, I ask myself, ‘who am I going to share this photo with?’ For 38 years I shared everything with her, and the feeling that I can’t do that anymore is really painful.”
Who am I going to share this photo with?
Revered as one of the finest theatre actors of his generation, Manuel has decided to publicly open up about the experience for the first time, ahead of a fund-raising telethon for Hospice Malta on Sunday. The “golden” work and dedication he and his wife experienced from the professionals and volunteers at Hospice is priceless, he said, and they deserve all the help.
‘She was at peace with it’
The 69-year-old actor, who is known for his roles in Michael Bay’s '13 Hours', Oscar-nominee 'Kon Tiki' and his role as Pope Paul II on Medici, as well as lead roles in several Shakespeare productions, still takes up acting roles in Malta and overseas, but is now also slowly adapting to his new reality without his wife.
“We fought it till the end, but we knew there was a limit to what we could achieve, and she was at peace with it,” he said.
Manuel and Veronica first discovered trouble in 2017, when a small spot that showed up in a routine medical checkup turned out to be the start of lung cancer.
The couple initially thought they were slowly emerging out of the woods when, after several sessions of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, they consistently noticed the tumour was shrinking with every PET scan Veronica took.
“It was a six-year battle, but the illness seemed to be slowly fading away and doctors were confident everything was under control, as long as we kept an eye on it,” he recalled.
That was until May last year.
“Come June, Veronica began to feel strong headaches which no medication seemed to alleviate. The next PET scan revealed a metastasis – the cancer had come back with a vengeance and spread wildly in her frontal lobe,” Manuel said.“
It was immediately clear to us that was her death sentence.
”The illness quickly started to attack her other organs and her health began to deteriorate. She was so courageous. I wasn’t as courageous as her.”
That is when, in a very dark moment, Hospice Malta came into the couple’s life to help them acquire the necessary equipment and professional and moral support.
For Manuel and Veronica, nurse Alexandra Azzopardi was especially helpful.
“She struck an excellent rapport with Veronica, who at this stage was at peace with what she was facing. The moral support was the most crucial and during their sessions together I could see Veronica’s face light up whenever Alexandra came into the room,” he said.
“Honestly, anybody involved in Hospice Malta should be awarded Malta’s highest honours for what they do. Speaking from experience, I know they all go beyond their call of duty to help those in need.”
Cauchi, an award-winning voice actor - is currently starring in the June 18 released film, Outrage, on Apple and Amazon Prime, and the current season of popular UK series 'The Good Ship Murder'.
He is also currently filming a large role in project executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the details of which are yet to be released.
The Last Step
Sunday’s telethon, which is themed 'L-Aħħar Pass' (The Last Step), aims to raise enough funds to complete the St Michael Hospice Complex – Malta’s first palliative care complex that will offer crucial in-patient facilities and expanded services for patients and their families facing life-limiting illnesses.
The NGO provides free palliative care services to patients and their families. It offers all services and renting of equipment free of charge, and the telethon organisers insist that is why the telethon is critical.
When launching the telethon last month, Hospice Malta CEO Kenneth Delia said the NGO is offering services to three new patients daily, and it is witnessing “a steady rise in demand for services”.
In 2023 alone, it welcomed close to 900 new patients, serving 1,500 families annually. Its dedicated professionals provided nearly 37,000 sessions of care, supported by over 11,000 volunteer hours and almost 27,000 hours of care in patients’ homes, he said.
“Additionally, we loaned over 2,500 pieces of essential equipment to those in need. The telethon provides us with a vital lifeline to continue supporting patients and their families through high-quality individualised palliative care services.”
The telethon will go live on major TV stations from 11am to 11pm on Sunday.