John Clark, teen lifeguard, saves drowning child, now stuck with hospital bill
An Oregon teen rescued a 12-year-old who had been swept out to sea, but now faces the hefty charges from a medical follow-up.
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
John Clark, age 17, received his lifeguard certification five days before the incident, reports KOIN-6 News. Clark felt a check-up after the event should be standard procedure, so he headed to the hospital and now has bills totaling around $2,600 for that trip, he says he has no regrets.
Clark heard screams for help from a young boy, he dove in and then he calmed the boy down, and kept him afloat. Jet skis arrived and pulled both of them to shore.
“He had to do something,” said Dan Clark, John’s dad.
“I don’t know exactly how big the swells were,” Clark said, “but they were big enough to push both of us underwater — all the way down to where we were touching sand.”
The bill: $449 for the emergency room, $227 for the physician and $1,907 for riding 15 miles to the hospital.
“I had a feeling there would be a bill,” John said. “But I didn’t know how much it would be, and I kind of feel bad for the fact that it’s so expensive. But I couldn’t just let the kid go — I had to do something.”
“I am extremely proud of him,” his dad tells KOIN. “When we got the bill it was a shock.”
