Bob O'Brien

Stitching Children's together

Tucked away in their basement workshop, Children's Hospital Boston upholsterer Bob O'Brien and seamstress Munassarni "Enas" Bantacut, both in Environmental Services, are busy stapling, sewing, cutting, hemming and reupholstering anything and everything in the hospital that contains fabric. Their work ranges from sewing curtains and reupholstering chairs in Enders Auditorium to cutting new fabric for physical therapy beds at Children's Waltham location. They even alter the shirtsleeves and slacks of the housekeeping employees' uniforms. "The more work they give us, the happier we are," says O'Brien.

O'Brien had orthopedic surgery at Children's when he was 5 years old, and he decided back then that he wanted to work for the hospital when he grew up. His apprenticeship at a furniture factory as a teenager fine-tuned his skills, and he started doing small repairs at Children's 20 years ago. Five years later, Bantacut joined him as the hospital seamstress, applying the expert sewing techniques she learned from her parents while growing up in Indonesia. "Sometimes my English isn't so great and Bob has bad hearing, so at times he can't hear or understand me," laughs Bantacut. "But we still make a good team."

Having worked in a small room cluttered with fabric, chairs and work benches side-by-side for so long, they are completely in synch while repairing patients' car seats, chairs, beds, laundry bags, big nylon building blocks from the day care center, and whatever else people ask for. "We both work fast, which helps," says O'Brien. After all these years, they've only had one minor injury: Bantacut accidentally sewed her finger into a piece of fabric and O'Brien quickly disassembled the sewing machine and rushed her upstairs to the Emergency Department. "He thought I was joking when I was yelling ’ÄòHelp!'" she says. Despite the incident, their track record is largely accident-free—no small feat, considering that their daily operating tools include a staple gun, scissors, needles and a hot press, which they use to smooth out wrinkles.

They've seen colors and styles of furniture change greatly over time and try to keep up with the trends so the hospital looks ship-shape. Last year, when they reupholstered the 150 chairs in the Enders Auditorium, everyone agreed on Bantacut's maroon fabric suggestion. O'Brien also pushes to be environmentally friendly and insists on using any large leftover pieces of fabric on smaller projects to support the hospital's green efforts.

When they aren't at work, O'Brien likes to spend time relaxing with his four sons and tending to his vegetable garden at his Plymouth home. When the work day is over for Bantacut, her favorite hobby is still sewing: Right now, she's making presents for her first, soon-to-be-born grandchild. But they're never in a hurry to rush home: O'Brien and Bantacut are all smiles among the giant rolls of fabric and piles of furniture where they spend their days. Bantacut sums it up for both of them: "I love working here because I like knowing the things I make help the children."

Munassarni "Enas" Bantacut