Trembling arms outstretched, Mary Rose Zammit slowly feels her way out of her tiny kitchen, brushes past her son and lowers herself beside him on the bed.

The shabby bedroom also serves as the family’s living room and it is where the 86-year-old and her son, Charlie, 54, spend the majority of their time.

Both blind, they do not switch on the light but leave the windows wide open to allow the breeze to drift in. Despite living in a house in a state of disrepair, they do not complain – the only ‘luxury’ they miss is their radio with an audio cassette, which recently stopped functioning.

The Zammit’s rundown bathroom.

“We used to record everything on it, such as telephone numbers and shopping lists. We miss it,” Ms Zammit says.

Time’s furrowed lines of pain and hardship have left their mark on the face of a woman who has given birth to nine children and buried five – two died when they were still infants. She was widowed at the age of 48.

At the time, the family lived in Valletta – she recalls how she was forced to turn to her local church for donations to help raise her children as her sight was already failing her by then.

Ms Zammit very clearly remembers the day she could no longer see. In 1977, her 20-year-old son had bought a motorcycle – against his parents’ wishes.

“He was fixated on buying a motorcycle. My husband was very angry with him. He had lost a cousin in a motorcycle accident so he was very much opposed.

“Joey insisted he was an adult and had a right to do so. I wept when I saw that motorcycle in front of my door.”

When I was 30, an acquaintance gave me a taste of heroin - it was the only thing which dulled the pain

Tragically, one day the motorcycle stalled and as he was trying to get it to start, he was run over by a car, dying five days later. Ms Zammit was devastated and locked herself indoors for three months.

“I kept the bag he used for work and would bury my head in it and smell it, trying to capture his scent.

“After three months, I opened the door – and it was as if a mist was clouding my eyes. My sight just went downhill from there.”

Another son of hers had an intellectual disability – he was bullied mercilessly by people in the street, who would beat him up and throw him into the sea. He was taken to Mount Carmel Hospital where, Ms Zammit recalls, he was happy because the nurses loved him. He passed away aged 38 at Mount Carmel. Another son succumbed to cancer last year, aged 48.

Mr Zammit says that his vision was damaged when he was still a 20-year-old youth. Slightly intoxicated after a wedding, he attended a house party on a roof. As he was sitting on the low wall, he lost his balance and plummeted five storeys. His fall was broken by wires, but he spent three weeks in hospital, suffering broken ribs.

“My vision began to swim – it turned out that I had torn my retinas upon impact.”

He was eventually flown over to Moorfields Eye Hospital in the UK, where specialists determined that chances of acquiring vision in his right eye were minimal. However, the retinal detachment suffered in his left one was less severe and, after an operation, his left eye acquired full vision.

He began working as a monti hawker but things went downhill once more following another accident, this time with his arm.

Mr Zammit is frank about his struggle with drugs. “When I was 30, an acquaintance gave me a taste of heroin – it was the only thing which dulled the excruciating pain. I thought I could stop but I got addicted. I ended up like a corpse – drugs just destroy you.”

After an intense rehabilitation programme, he kicked the habit and went on to help set up Narcotics Anonymous, which brought solace to a number of other people struggling with drugs.

He went on to open a mobile phone shop in Valletta but disaster struck when the shop was burgled. Mr Zammit says he went bankrupt and, six years ago, he developed glaucoma in his remaining eye, ultimately causing him to lose his sight completely.

The family is being helped by NGO Daqqa t’Id, run by Charles Saliba, who is aiming to provide them with the basic necessities and to transform the house into a decent, habitable home.

Anyone who can help the mother and son by donating food, a radio with audio cassette, furniture for the bedrooms, pillows, sheets and curtains, a shower and toilet, kitchen appliances and crockery is asked to contact Mr Saliba on 9902 6827 or daqqatid@gmail.com.

When the appeal is explained to Ms Zammit, she exudes gratitude.“I will keep you in my prayers. God bless you for your work.”

Donations can be made by phoning one of the following numbers: 5150 2082, €5; 5160 2025, €10; 5170 2026, €15; 5180 2093, €25 and 5190 2056, €50.

Donations by SMS can be sent to: 5061 9288, €11.65; 5061 8989, €6.99; 5061 8193, €4.66; and 5061 7595, €2.33.