Just hours before 41-year-old Maltese father of two Sandro Grech was due to be transferred by air ambulance to Beijing for a last-chance cancer treatment, his family was confronted with a devastating new demand: an additional €80,000 on top of a fee they had already paid in full, Sandro's wife Abigail Borg wrote on Facebook Saturday afternoon.
The English air-ambulance company contracted to transport Sandro informed the family of the sudden increase only after receiving full payment, placing them in an impossible position at the most vulnerable moment of his fight for survival, she said in her second post of the day. Despite repeated appeals explaining the urgency of Sandro's condition, the company has so far refused to reverse the charge, leaving the family facing a financial and emotional crisis just as hope had been rekindled.
Sandro, who is currently stable and medically cleared to travel from Mater Dei Hospital, is battling a rare and aggressive form of leukaemia. Over the past two years he has undergone multiple rounds of intensive chemotherapy and two bone-marrow transplants donated by his brother. Both transplants failed, and doctors in Malta have exhausted all conventional treatment options. The only remaining chance to save his life lies in an experimental CAR-T cell immunotherapy trial.
Late last year, Malta rallied around Sandro in what was widely described as a defining moment of national solidarity. In less than 24 hours, the public donated €250,000. Prime Minister Robert Abela then announced that the Government would match the donations with a further €250,000, bringing the total to €500,000 - the amount originally quoted by doctors for a clinical trial in Singapore.
In a first social media post on Saturday, Abigail Borg said that after Sandro was stabilised following a serious infection, the family was informed by the National University Hospital of Singapore that the true cost of treatment and hospitalisation would be far higher than initially quoted. Despite efforts by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Malta's Consular Services and the Maltese Consulate in Singapore, the financial gap proved too large, forcing the family to abandon the Singapore option.
Through the Acute Leukemia Advocacy Network, Sandro was then accepted into a comparable CAR-T therapy trial in Beijing, China, offering him the same potentially life-saving treatment. The combined funds from the Maltese public and the Government made it possible to secure both the treatment package and the specialised air-ambulance transfer.
It was at this critical final stage - with travel imminent - that the family was confronted with the sudden €80,000 surcharge by the air-ambulance provider.
In response, Borg said that Prime Minister Robert Abela intervened immediately to assist, while Malta's High Commissioner in London, Professor Stephen Montefort, became personally involved in efforts to protect Sandro's interests and ensure that the funds raised through public sacrifice are used fairly and transparently. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, including Chirelle Sciberras and her team, has also been working continuously to secure visas for Sandro and his accompanying family.
Legal support is being provided by Dr Aron Mifsud Bonnici and Dr Roselyn Borg, who are assisting the family in challenging the unexpected financial demand.
Sandro's family has said the support they are receiving from the Maltese people and institutions is what gives them the strength to keep going. "The money we entrusted to this company is not just money - it is Sandro's hope and the love of an entire nation," they said.
Prime Minister Abela, who had met Sandro during a visit to Maltese families supported by Puttinu Cares in the UK, had described his story as a powerful reminder of what solidarity means in practice.
The family is now appealing for calm, reason and fairness to prevail so that Sandro can begin his journey to Beijing on Tuesday as planned. For Sandro, a young father of two daughters, this flight represents not just travel - it is his last chance to live, to fight, and to remain a father to his children.