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Packir said without the city’s flexibility, the company probably wouldn’t have survived
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A Calgary businessman who ended up on a ventilator after catching COVID-19 is now on the road to recovery, and his business partner says a city contract has helped the pair’s factory stay afloat.
Adrian Bussoli caught COVID-19 in April, just days before he was supposed to get his vaccination.
The virus left him in hospital on a ventilator, and in an induced coma, but his family says he is now awake and breathing on his own.
Bussoli had his breathing tube removed about one week ago and is talking again with family.
His son Michael said his dad is not fully out of the woods, but is doing better than before.
“He has lost a huge amount of muscle because of the medically induced coma and bedridden state for 4.5 weeks,” said Michael. “He is so thankful for the care that he has received from the nurses and doctors.”
His family says he has at least three months of recovery ahead of him, but a GoFundMe that raised $50,000 will help Bussoli and his wife deal with the unexpected income loss.
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Meanwhile, Bussoli’s business partner Mohamed Packir is crediting the City of Calgary with helping their business weather the storm.
When both he and Bussoli got sick, they asked all their workers at Alberta Garment Manufacturing (AGM) to remain at home and isolate.
“The whole plant technically shut down,” said Packir. “Everybody went home for three weeks.”
He and his wife went to an isolation hotel, and called on a friend to watch their five-year-old daughter, who thankfully did not catch the virus.
He said his bout with COVID was much more than the average flu.
“It was unbearable,” he said. “No taste, a headache — like somebody hitting you on the head with a two-by-four.”
He was incapacitated with weakness and fatigue for days, but through his sickness, he worried about the jobs of his employees and the contract they had with the city.
AGM had won a tender on a significant city contract to produce overalls and coveralls for city workers. Packir said there were 700 pieces outstanding in the order when the plant shut down.
“When I first tested positive for COVID, my first reaction was, ‘What’s going to happen for the city orders?’” said Packir.
At the city, leader of inventory management Todd Daniels was already familiar with AGM. The city had relied on the company to make PPE early on in the pandemic, when the entire world was scrambling to get face masks.
“AGM was one of those companies that really stepped up and helped support the city’s needs for face coverings,” said Daniels.
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He’d met with Packir and Bussoli several times, and had been to AGM’s plant, so it wasn’t like dealing with a supplier halfway around the world.
“This goes beyond the business side of things to the real human impacts that people are facing and the challenges they’re facing,” said Daniels.
Daniels said with seasonal work ramping up at the city, the need for coveralls and overalls was growing. They looked in their supplies and found a way to give AGM the time they needed to regroup — about three weeks.
“I do still have the responsibility of making sure the city’s needs are looked after. So (we’re) just trying to navigate the human side of things first and foremost and then the business side of things as well,” he said.
Packir said without the city’s flexibility, the company probably wouldn’t have survived.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I can’t express how the City of Calgary has been supporting us.”
He said he feels a sense of pride when he sees a city worker wearing something manufactured by AGM, and he does his own part supporting local business by purchasing things like thread, snaps and zippers from local suppliers.
He added that between the city’s assistance and friends stepping up to watch his daughter while he and his wife recovered, he feels fortunate to live here.
“That’s what I like about Calgary,” said Packir. “I moved from Sri Lanka to Calgary in 1986. There’s so many people who are there to help you on your difficult times.”
brthomas@postmedia.com
Twitter: @brodie_thomas
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