Help the Wilkie Family with Medical Expenses

My name is Dr. Greg Frye M.D. and I am raising money for my friend, Andrew Wilkie, who has had two major life-changing/threatening events in the past 6 months.

Andrew is a 55-year-old, high school science teacher with a wife, three sons, and a young daughter still at home. In September, he suffered a stroke, which affected his cerebellum. The initial treatment put him in the Neurological ICU department at UC San Francisco Hospital for five days. After 3-4 months, he was able to return to his classroom to finish the semester and start the new year.

However, on January 29th of 2023, Andrew suffered a heart attack. He found himself in the hospital again and had open heart surgery (triple bypass) on February 1st. Once again, Andrew was not able to work. His sick leave was more than used up in the first medical emergency and many of his fellow teachers donated some sick leave days to assist him. However, with the heart surgery and recovery, he now finds himself having to cover the cost of his absences/substitute teachers while trying to maintain his family’s living expenses. This is on top of the medical expenses from each of the emergencies.

The Wilkies currently have medical bills equating upwards of $15,500. Depending on the length of his recovery from the heart surgery, he is looking at an additional $1,000 per week deducted from his salary to cover the school district’s costs for a substitute starting the second week of March. Andrew is recovering quickly from the surgery and hopes to get back to the classroom by late March. His surgeon has been very pleased with the progress to date.

The goal of $16,500 is based on the known expenses to date. There may be a few more unforeseen bills on the horizon, but this appears to be the bulk of the financial need apart from the loss of work days.