A local HVAC company stepped in to replace an elderly woman’s air conditioning unit after she was sent to the hospital for severe heat illness.
Susan Guzman lives with her daughter and 95-year-old mother, Josephine Gonzalez, who suffers from dementia.
Two months ago, Guzman said her mother's AC broke down. Not long after, heat complications sent Gonzalez to the hospital. She is now in an acute rehabilitation center.
“She was in intensive care maybe three days,” Guzman said.
With a replacement HVAC system costing upwards of $15,000, Guzman said she couldn’t find the funds to make it happen.
“For the last few months, everything that can go wrong has been going wrong,” Guzman said.
Moved by their story, Arcadia Air stepped in this week, replacing her entire HVAC for free.
“I wish that we could help everybody. Obviously, you can't,” Arcadia Air Operations Manager Mike Ryan said. “But, you know, sometimes somebody comes along, it just seems like it's the right thing to do and we're blessed enough that every once while, we're able to help people out.”
On Friday, cool air flowed freely through their South Phoenix home for the first time in months.
Guzman said she’s looking forward to the day her mother will be ready to return.
“I just said thank God,” Guzman said. “There are good people.”
