John Clark has learned that not only are good deeds sometimes punished, they also may come with a hefty price tag. The 17-year-old lifeguard at Oregon’s Rockaway Beach heard a 12-year-old boy screaming for help last month after the swimmer was pulled out by the rough surf.
Clark swam out to rescue the boy, and when the ambulance arrived, he climbed in. “I couldn’t just let the kid go,” he said. Clark’s selfless decisions earned him a $2,600 bill from Tillamook County General Hospital, including a $1,907 charge for the 15-mile ambulance ride. Clark, who juggles two other lifeguarding jobs, says he “feels bad” about the four-digit bill. We feel bad the hospital would even issue it.