Two men who forged a strong friendship after a car breakdown 22 years ago won their “dream” trip to the Australian Open after almost 3,000 people voted for their story in a Facebook competition.
Joe Cuschieri and Paul Fenech won an all-expenses-paid trip to the world-famous tennis tournament at the end of January in a competition organised by one of the main sponsors, Kia Motors.
“I am extremely happy for many reasons but primarily because I can repay Joe for his kindness when he helped me out when we first met,” Mr Fenech, 44, said yesterday.
The two men met 22 years ago at about 1 a.m. in Paceville when Mr Fenech’s car broke down on the eve of an important University test. Only Mr Cuschieri stopped to help him and towed Mr Fenech to Għaxaq, leaving his car there so Mr Fenech could drive to the University. They immediately clicked and became best friends, with Mr Fenech asking Mr Cuschieri to be his best man at his wedding.
Earlier this month, without saying a word, Mr Fenech, an avid tennis player, submitted the pair’s story to a competition on Facebook, which required just the story, involving “a vehicle, yourself and one other person”.
The trip was the prize for the two most voted stories.
Even Mr Cuschieri was overjoyed when the voting closed yesterday. “I’m delighted. I’m very happy. I am really excited and looking forward to the trip,” he said.
The two men had made a public appeal in The Sunday Times, asking readers to vote for their story, which ranked second.
“Last Sunday, we received about 1,500 votes after the story was published,” Mr Cuschieri said, thanking The Sunday Times.
They watched in excitement as the votes kept pouring in during the day. “Joe and I were like small children calling each other all day and seeing the votes add up almost every second,” Mr Fenech said.
The competition closed yesterday at 4.30 p.m. and their story, which won 2,937 votes, was surpassed only by one submitted by a Filipino man who got 5,410 votes.
Both men publicly thanked all the people who voted for them and were “overwhelmed” by the positive response to their story.
“People kept telling us what a positive story it was and one woman even told me on Facebook I already was a winner because I had Joe as a friend,” Mr Fenech said.
Even Mr Cuschieri was surprised by the positive feedback. “It was really nice because we received so many sweet comments and kind feedback.”
Excited and looking forward to the upcoming trip, the men will meet Kia Motors representatives this weekend who will be visiting Malta bringing with them all the details of the trip to Australia.