Vittorio Mayol and Maria Borelli boarded the ship with their five children in tow: Clementina, Carmela, Anna, Lucia and Carmelo.
The couple were supposed to migrate to Australia 11 years ago, in 1958, with a different set of children – still four girls and one boy – when tragedy struck on August 25, causing the trip to be postponed.
Their first five children – who were also named Clementina, Carmela, Anna, Lucia and Carmelo – all died in a fire that broke out in a basso, or traditional street-level Neapolitan apartment.
The fire was caused by an explosion of fireworks that were being stored in the house.
The children were sleeping in the same bed at the time of the incident.
Following the tragedy, Vittorio and Maria went on to have five more children, four girls and one boy, born in the same order as their deceased siblings.
Last week, the “rebuilt” family finally departed for Australia.
Many locals gathered at the port to see the family off and wish them well on their new adventure.
Once Vittorio had helped his wife and children aboard the ship, he took to the deck and said some final words to loved ones and journalists.
He explained that the moment was bittersweet, as he was finally heading to Australia but he was leaving behind his elderly father and his hometown of Naples.
“It will be difficult to be so far away from Naples, particularly in the beginning,” he said.
“But hopefully the distance will help us to slowly heal and forget that terrible night.”
