He sustained an injury a few months ago, a member of his family said, that has restricted his mobility somewhat, but otherwise Mr Farrugia is very active and has a passion for telling stories – especially to his great-nephews and great-grandchildren, all 24 of them.

One of his great-nephews Jurgen told how good Mr Farrugia was at telling stories. “He remembers stories better than I do. Every once in a while when he is telling a story he has already told me, I pay attention to see if he is faithful to the original version. He may change a slight detail here and there but otherwise he never misses anything.”

Mrs Damato gave her best wishes to Mr Farrugia, saying that she hoped to be back at his next birthday. She said he was a living example of how, with a little help from the family, the elderly can be helped to live within the community even at a very old age.

There are old people who need more specialised help and cannot, unfortunately, remain within their community, but for the rest there is a need for more effort to help them maintain an independent lifestyle as much as possible, Mrs Damato said.