ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For nearly 20 years, George Ruiz and his wife Elizabeth have been running Georgie’s Bakery on South Clinton Avenue. With the help of their kids and grandkids, they offered near-daily pastries, sandwiches, and the best Cuban in Upstate New York.

But that all changed last fall when George started feeling unwell. Thus began a long hiatus, in which Georgie’s Bakery was closed for six months while George recovered from a litany of health issues — including a seizure, a heart attack, brain surgery, pneumonia and COVID-19. But now, the family-owned bakery is back in action.

It all began on Oct. 21.

“We had almost everything ready for work – the pork, the chicken, it was like 5 to 8 o’clock. And he said he didn’t feel well,” Elizabeth said.

“I was feeling off, coordination, I couldn’t figure out what was what. Like I couldn’t work on the register because I couldn’t give the right change,” George said.

After rushing to the hospital, they discovered George had arteriovenous malformations or an AVM.

“I think it’s blood vessels jumbled up together like tied together basically, and they said you could be born with it or it could just happen,” said Anaya Ruiz, George’s granddaughter.

By the time Anaya got to the hospital from college, George had a seizure and needed emergency brain surgery. He would spend the next 37 days in the hospital.

“I’ve never really been in a house without him like all of us. That’s why I stayed that night and it was so weird, like empty. It was very empty,” Anaya said.

While in the hospital, George suffered a seizure, a heart attack, pneumonia, and COVID-19.

“The brain is nothing to play with. The brain is amazing. Doctor told me I was going to be in the hospital for five days. And I was there for 37 days,” George said.

Now six months later, George is back and so are his customers. While he’s still walking with a cane, the Ruiz family says George is getting better every day.

“It was hard, it was real hard, it was like, amazing, you know, everything at once … but I’m here, I went through it,” George said.

While they may have been off for a while, the Ruiz family did not lose their skills in the kitchen. News10NBC’s Hailie Higgins stopped in to see how things are going and reports the sandwich Elizabeth made for her was every bit as delicious as it looked.

George say they’re selling out of their pork and nearly every customer he had before came right on back to get their regular orders. Both he and Elizabeth say they are grateful for the support they’ve gotten.

Right now, Georgie’s Bakery is open Friday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. But George says his goal is to get back to his regular hours, five days a week.

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