The family of the soldier who was submerged for 10 minutes during a military exercise at Chadwick Lakes before being discovered by his colleagues are still in dark over what happened to the 19-year-old.
Matthew Psaila's critical condition took a turn for the worse last night, as his family kept vigil by his bedside at Mater Dei's Intensive Therapy Unit, tormented by questions that nobody has so far answered.
Neither the army nor the Office of the Prime Minister was in a position to say yesterday if Private Psaila's commanding officer was aware he could not swim, or whether he was last in line as the soldiers trudged through the lake against the current on a cold winter's day.
"We have no answers and we don't know what happened," his mother Marion told The Sunday Times last night, looking at her son, who seemed to be asleep were it not for the pipes and machines that are keeping him alive.
The information released to the media has been scant. While army commander Brigadier Carmel Vassallo was willing to give details about the exercise, he was careful what to reveal "in the light of the magisterial inquiry" underway.
Brig. Vassallo said he was keen to get to the bottom of what happened last Friday morning and he has ordered an internal investigation: "I too want to know, without interfering with the inquiry."
He explained that Private Psaila - who was with the 'C' Company, an elite unit trained to perform special operations - was undergoing a course that led to the qualification of an infantryman.
Friday's exercise consisted of teamwork, carrying logs and surmounting land and water obstacles. Private Psaila was part of a team of nine soldiers who were in combat gear, carrying a backpack of some 20kg, and their rifle.
Friday was a cold blustery day and the exercise was intended to take about an hour. The incident occurred early on in the exercise, as the soldiers waded through the dirty water, which can reach a depth of nearly two metres. Private Psaila, who panics underwater, is about 1.7 metres tall.
"I'd rather not get into the details of whether he was positioned at the end of the line or not, because of the inquiry underway. It's better if we keep this in general terms," Brig. Vassallo said when contacted.
Asked if the commanding officer knew Private Psaila could not swim, Brig. Vassallo said: "I don't know. His family is saying he could not swim, but I wouldn't be able to say."
His family point out that Private Psaila had told his team on more than one occasion that he could not swim. Once, when he had to undergo an exercise in Delimara, which involved crossing the bay, he feared he would fall in, so he told his superiors and they assured him they would be on the lookout.
From snitches of information, the family have ascertained that as the unit approached a claustrophobic tunnel some panic set in and nobody realised Private Psaila had gone under.
Attempting to piece the facts together, they believe he spent some 10 minutes submerged before anyone realised he was missing. His team then formed a line, from bank to bank, and began walking through the water until they stumbled upon him at the bottom. In the ambulance there was no sign of a pulse for almost 20 minutes.
His father, Anthony, received a call from the Brigadier at 10.47 a.m. When they got to hospital, their son, with his face still streaked in black and green paint, was motionless, as the staff worked round the clock to save him. Gathered inside the small waiting room at ITU last night, the family recounted, through tears and smiles, how he lived and breathed the army.
It seems his genes were pre-programmed for the army, because when he was still five years old he only wanted his mother to dress him in black, green or camouflage clothes.
Despite passing his 'A' levels and earning the opportunity to go to university, his sights were set on joining 'C' Company and nothing else.
"When he was doing running exercises, he had problems with his knees and he was afraid he would be transferred to another unit, or be deskbound," his mother recalled.
Martin Bugelli, his uncle, mentions his fascination with the television mini-series Band of Brothers, based on the story of a US platoon and their mission in World War II in Europe, and the family all chipped in with their version.
His brother Joseph recalled that he had got him the DVD box set for Christmas: "He must have seen it at least 50 times. I'm surprised he hasn't burnt out the DVD."
Since Private Psaila did not drive he would book his brother every morning to ferry him around the army surplus shops. "His salary was converted into a shopping list of army books, abd boots that he bought online, and anything army-related," Joseph said.
His obsession has already rubbed off on his 12-year-old cousin, Gabriel Bugelli, who is always badgering Matthew for juicy details, such as if he had shot a gun or rode a tank. The incident has not diminished his enthusiasm.
Despite the rigorous training the victim had to undergo, he was not the adventurous type, and his uncle described him as a "sweet-natured boy, who was not the life and soul of the party, but was always there to greet you with his half-smile and twinkling eyes".
Private Psaila's only fear was water. His father recalled how as a baby he'd scream until he turned blue whenever they washed his hair.
"When he was young, Matthew would remain on the sand playing. He'd wet his feet, but he never went in... For some reason, water was never his friend," Joseph said.