The widow of the man who died while working at Amazon’s London-area mega-plant says she expects to have to wait another half-year to find out the exact cause of his death.
The widow of the man who died while working at Amazon’s London-area mega-plant says she expects to have to wait another half-year to find out the exact cause of his death.
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As Ontario’s labor ministry continues investigating, widow Sheila Albuquerque, 44, told The Free Press she’s cried daily for the past three months and that getting out of bed is a “victory” in the wake of the Jan. 15 death of Paulo DeSouza Bezerra.
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“My son is the only purpose I have. I need to be both his mom and dad,” she said. “All I know is that I’m trying my best to give Logan a healthy life.”
DeSouza Bezerra collapsed at work on Jan. 15, about an hour after a fire alarm sent staff outside the Talbotville plant for roughly 17 minutes in -20 C wind chill temperatures. He later died. Amazon officials have said suggestions from workers that they weren’t allowed to go to their vehicles to warm up are untrue and are contradicted by security footage.
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Albuquerque says she is “too shaken” to keep pursuing autopsy results herself, so her late husband’s cousin has been in touch with the labor ministry. They’ve been told it could be another six months before they get answers, Albuquerque said.
Albuquerque said his family in Brazil is “distressed” and waiting for the results of the investigation.
Close to the end of her maternity leave, Albuquerque, who works in customer service, is relieved to have found a daycare for her son ahead of a return to work. She said the one-year-old is adapting well to daycare but wishes her husband were around to participate in the process.
While time seems to have stopped for the widow, feeling in “limbo” waiting for answers, Albuquerque says she’s been trying to “find herself” and adapt to her new life without her husband.
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Shortly after her 51-year-old husband’s death, Albuquerque learned of a massive rent increase looming on her two-bedroom apartment at 25 Center St in London. But after coverage by The Free Pressthe owner arranged for her to move into a one-bedroom unit in the same building at a more affordable $848 per month.
“The move to another apartment in the same building is much better than going to another location,” she said, but life remains “chaotic” with a baby, a new home and going back to work.
In March, an anonymous donor offered to pay her rent for one year. Albuquerque said at the time she was “astonished” by the generosity. An online fundraiser for the family raised more than $26,000.
The couple, married for more than 24 years, emigrated to Canada from Brazil in 2010. After many years of trying, they had their son. They moved to London from Toronto last summer, looking for better jobs and housing. Paulo started working at Amazon in October, three months before his death.
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