In 2008 we were blessed with the arrival of a second child. Soon after his birth we realised that our kid developed problems in his eyes. After several failed attemptsto resolve his three conditions here in Malta,which included a handful of surgeries and other related treatment, we decided to search for specialised help in the UK.

At the time it was really hard to cope with two small kids and one can imagine how expensive the required specialist consultations and related treatment turned out to be.

Meanwhile, and to make matters worse, he was also diagnosed as visually impaired and things got complicated from there. If it was not for the unwavering help and understanding from Puttinu we would have had to continue forking out thousands of euro on accommodation expenses only. When we first asked for help to Puttinu, Rennie Zerafa and Angele Cuschieri (representing this NGO) unconditionally lent us one of the apartments situated in Sutton even though we were, initially, not in a position to establish an exact date for our return to Malta mainly due to procedural issues which we had to adhere to in relation to treating our son’s complex situation. Since our child’s hospital is situated in the central London we had to travel a long way from Sutton. In view of our circumstances, that was the best offer they could give us, which we really appreciated.

We are writing this short message to encourage other patients and their relatives – who at the moment are going through a difficult period – to not loose hope and seek assistance. And last and not least, we are taking this opportunity to encourage all people of goodwill to help Puttinu as much as they can.

The first time that we heard about Puttinu Cares we didn’t know what was coming to our way, however, now we can better appreciate that their humane objectives are doing a significant contribution towards alleviating the suffering of those patients who require specialised treatment which cannot be fully guaranteed locally due to limited resources available.

Thanks again from our heart to Puttinu who is helping us financially and emotionally to make all those decisive steps in our journey to give our child specialised care in order for him to cope as best he can with his unfortunate medical conditions.

God bless.

Alexia and Sandro Cutajar
(parents of Ryan)