Qormi couple Marylis and Joseph Mallia saved their son Ramiro from leukaemia when he was two, only to bury him last year after he died at age 19 in a tragic accident at home.

And while they’re still reeling from that tragedy, they must look after their other son, who was meanwhile struck by an illness and developed severe and debilitating long-sightedness.

“Why is it always my children, and not myself,’ Marylis told Times of Malta when asked if they feel unfortunate.

“We don’t feel unfortunate but I do ask myself this question all the time: why does it always have to hit my children and not me?”

When I realised Ramiro was lifeless, I felt a shock which I still feel to this very day- Joseph Mallia

Ramiro was diagnosed with leukaemia at two years and nine months and was fighting for his life. After months of chemotherapy and countless nights in hospital, he survived the illness and was declared cancer-free when he was six.

He grew up healthy and spent most of his teens raising awareness about the Puttinu Cares Foundation through his own philanthropic initiative Ramiro and Friends.

Death from gas leak

On the morning of March 23 last year, he took to Facebook urging people to buy figolli in aid of the charity. A few hours later, he went to take a bath and died following a water heater gas leak.

“To this day, we’re still not sure what happened. We had just bought the heater and it was working just fine until a few hours earlier,” his mother recalled.

“Three of us took a shower and used the heater before Ramiro did. And then we left the house.”

His father, Joseph was out on an errand with his youngest son, Thiago at the time. Thiago found him on their return.

“I heard my son calling me from the bathroom, saying Ramiro fell asleep in the bathtub,” Joseph recalled.

“I went in and it did seem like he was sleeping. I was almost flustered because the water was still running and there were clothes on the floor.

“When I realised Ramiro was lifeless, I felt a shock which I still feel to this very day.”

Marylis says time heals the wounds but the pain remains.

“No parent gives life to their children to bury them.”

Calvagna assured them he died peacefully

Victor Calvagna was his paediatric oncologist during his illness. He assured them that Ramiro had died peacefully because the carbon monoxide would have first given him a high and then sent him gently to sleep. There was no way Ramiro or anyone else could have noticed the leak because it did not smell.

Calvagna himself was to die tragically in a road accident nine months later.

“I can’t believe we saved our son from such a horrible illness only to lose him to such a ridiculous tragic accident,” Marylis said.

“I argue a lot with God on this but I can’t lose faith in Him because it’s all we have.”

Close objects extremely blurred

As they grapple with Ramiro’s fate, his parents also struggle with their youngest son’s illness. When Thiago was just four, Marylis and Joseph discovered he had developed a rare condition called benign intracranial hypertension, causing him to severely lose near-sightedness.

Doctors said he could see impeccably from afar but close objects appear extremely blurred. This caused him to perform very badly in school.

“Letters and numbers in books and on the whiteboard gave him headaches and he wasn’t able to keep up with his class,” his mother said.

That completely changed when Thiago got prescription glasses and the Malta Trust Foundation bought him a tailor-made device that magnifies words and images and a specialised laptop that helps him follow lessons.

Thiago, now nine, and his parents say the extremely expensive but indispensable devices changed his life and, today, Thiago lives and goes to school normally.

“His condition even improved and he can now see the whiteboard. An eye specialist who follows him told me it’s a miracle.

“That’s when I looked at the sky and said, ‘this was you, Ramiro, you did this’,” Marylis said.

“Thiago is so happy with his device he now tells people that ‘his friend Marie-Louise’ gave it to him.”

Foundation's work for young people

President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca heads the Malta Trust Foundation, which works to give young people a brighter future through empowerment and psychosocial initiatives. Last year alone, it donated half a million euros worth of devices.

“We miss Ramiro terribly but we have Thiago and two other sons and we must stay strong for them,” Marylis said.

“We have been through a lot but, through our troubles, we have met many new people and made hundreds of new friends,” Joseph said.

“We are so lucky to live in Malta. There are people and organisations who genuinely help you when you’re in need. They don’t just tell you to take courage but they walk the journey with you.”

The Malta Trust Foundation will be holding a fund-raising telethon on all TV stations today from 1.30pm. The money will go towards tailor-made devices for non-verbal children on the autism spectrum and visually impaired children.