A boy who was evacuated from the Caribbean with his Maltese grandmother when the catastrophic hurricane Irma destroyed their house will be celebrating his sixth birthday in Malta.

Karen Freeman (née Vella) and her grandson Xaydin arrive early Sunday morning after two weeks stuck in London waiting for a British passport for the five-year-old.

A month to the day, Tortola – the largest island in the British Virgin Islands – was transformed overnight when the hurricane hit. For Ms Freeman, who has lived there for 19 years, “it looked like a bomb had just been dropped on the island”.

Ms Freeman and her grandson survived the hurricane and left the island after her daughter, Kyrah, made her promise she would take care of little Xaydin.

After some five days in Puerto Rico, the two flew to London where they stayed with friends, with their final destination being Malta.

Kyrah, who was born in Malta, will be joining her mother and son in the coming days. The British authorities initially asked for both of Xaydin’s parents’ consent in order to issue him with a travel document but decided to go ahead once they were convinced the father was not around.

It looked like a bomb had just been dropped on the island

When contacted by this newspaper, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry said the Maltese authorities could not issue a minor with a travel document without the consent and signatures of both parents if both their names appeared on the child’s birth certificate.

Xaydin got a British passport yesterday, with the spokeswoman telling the Times of Malta this had been granted “with all the necessary help from the Maltese High Commission in London”.

An emotional Ms Freeman broke the news as soon as her grandson had the passport in hand, saying she would “touch Maltese soil” on Sunday morning.

At the airport, her sister Avron will be waiting for her with a Kinnie and a pastizz (cheesecake), two of the things she misses about the island.

Her grandson has not left her side since they left Tortola and she is looking forward to celebrating his birthday in Malta on October 19.