Arcadia High students start GoFundMe for teacher to pay for wife's heart surgery

PHOENIX - A Phoenix high school teacher's students are stepping up in a big way after they discovered his wife needed open-heart surgery.

"We moved into our tiny home, and right as I started moving things, I started having chest pains in November," said Angel Guy.

In March of this year, doctors told Angel she needed the surgery. Her husband, Clayton Guy, never left his wife's side.

Clay is a government teacher at Arcadia High School.

"We had to wait until May 11 for surgery, and it was like waiting for a heart attack, waiting for something to go on, and the kids  would ask [how she's doing], and the teachers would ask, the school was very supportive, the students were amazing," said Clay.

His students are so amazing, he says they created a GoFundMe to help pay for the surgery.

"Overall, Mr. Guy [is] always in a great mood, he brings just a great vibe to the class, and he's always energetic," said Parker Bond, one of his students. "Before we found out about his wife's surgery, probably a week prior, we could all tell that his mood was a little bit lower and down, and we knew something was off."

Bond was a senior at the time and says he and his classmates could tell their favorite teacher was stressed. They wanted to take some of the worry away and help with medical expenses.

I think the reason he means so much to all his classes is because he is able to connect with everyone," Bond said. "It doesn't matter what they like it doesn't matter who they are, he can talk about anything with anyone for a long time."

Even with insurance, open-heart surgery is costly. It showed the Guys how kind people can be, and the students' financial assistance helped with the process.

"You just don't imagine that someone is going to come back and do that for you as well," Angel said.

Now, Angel is recovering from her operation. She says it normally takes about six months to recover, and last Thursday was the first time she could drive.

"She gets chest pains, and she's not sure if it's her sternum, in the chest or if it's her heart, but It's something we are monitoring," said Clay. 

The students are still hoping to raise $10,000 for the couple. 

Support their GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/pay-for-an-arcadia-teachers-wifes-heart-surgery