The daughter of Carmen Sapiano – the 75-year-old woman who died after being crushed by her car earlier this month – has described her mother as “lively, outgoing and full of life”.

Carmen Sapiano was killed after she was trapped under her Toyota Aygo car which rolled forward outside her house in Sliema on April 3.  

“She was a lively, energetic and outgoing person and her death has left a void in the family and greatly shocked her friends,” her daughter Piera Degiorgio told Times of Malta.

Sapiano, the only daughter among eight siblings, was born and raised in St Publius Street, the same street where her family set up the then-popular Sapiano bakery and confectionery.

On the day of the accident, Sapiano would have been returning from her usual Sunday outing in Marsaxlokk with her friend. The first member of the family who knew about the accident was one of her brothers, Charles, who called the family immediately.

“That day was when we went to the pope’s Mass and had lunch in Valletta,” Piera said.

“The moment we arrived home and sat on the sofa was when we got the phone call.

“While we drove to Sliema, I was very agitated as they just told me she had an accident, but deep down I knew something terrible had happened and when I arrived and saw the police cars and fire engines, I was in total shock.”

The funeral took place on April 7, but investigations into the incident are still ongoing.

A CCTV camera had recorded the whole event, which showed Sapiano leaving and walking out of her car.

Piera recalls how her mother didn’t act her age, being constantly “on-the-go and non-stop”. She made sure to attend all her doctor’s appointments and apart from her knee giving her problems, she was in good health.

“What struck me was when we walked out of the church after the funeral, I was surrounded by 10 elderly women, all of whom knew my mother,” she said.

“They all started to tell me stories about how they knew my mother, one told me how she was with her in Marsaxlokk on the day of the accident, another how she had planned to have breakfast with her, and another was going line dancing with her.”

“Her life was full, non-stop, and outgoing,” she said.

During the pandemic she quickly mastered Zoom calls and would be in touch every day.

“She even joined some exercise classes on Zoom and on Facebook,” she said, recalling how her mother was technologically savvy for her age.

She said her mother was very fond of cooking and wishes to put together a ‘scrapbook’ of all her recipes.

“Recently she made a puddina with oats, which we devoured apart from a small piece, which I froze, never to be eaten, as it is the last thing she made for us.”

Piera said her mother also had a love for word games and would work out the Times of Malta crosswords.

Back in 2005, Sapiano had participated in a Times of Malta word game competition and won a trip to the French Riviera.

“She would come to visit us every Thursday, and I would keep her a copy of The Sunday Times. The moment she arrived we would make a cup of tea and look for the paper to fill out the whole page. My children would sit next to her and drink fresh orange juice I would make for them,” she said.

“I will continue this tradition, just this time, after making the fresh orange juice, I will be the one sitting down and finding the time to fill out the crossword section in the paper.

“A small way to keep her memory and routine alive.”