Heroic teen saves woman’s life, gets hit with $932 bill
A teenage boy who saved a drowning woman has been slammed with a bill of almost $1,000.
Brayden Mitchell, a 19-year-old surfer from Perth, was forced to start a Go Fund Me page to try and afford the $932 ambulance services bill he incurred while rescuing the woman from a floodway.
The woman was on a rescue mission of her own, to save her dog from the deep water.
She and the dog were dragged away in a strong current after recent rainfall on Saturday and came dangerously close to being swept out to sea.
Luckily, Mr Mitchell and his girlfriend were driving in the area nearby at the time.
They heard the woman’s screams for help and rushed to help.
“She was 50 metres out and going further, she was struggling,” Mr Mitchell told Busselton-Dunsborough Mail.
The teenager immediately dove in to save the woman.
Rough conditions meant both the woman and Mr Mitchell were getting dumped.
“Waves were crashing over the top of us,” Mr Mitchell recalled.
Meanwhile, the icy water had begun to take its toll as hypothermia quickly set in.
By this stage, neither the woman nor Mr Mitchell could stand up due to the extremely cold conditions.
“My girlfriend ran in and helped us both out,” Mr Mitchell explained.
When they finally reached land, both the woman and Mr Mitchell had turned ‘blue’.
Rushed to the nearby Busselton hospital, the pair was treated for mild hypothermia.
Mr Mitchell was released after an hour, before he was shortly served the $932 ambulance bill; an amount that’s unachievable on his apprentice wage.
The page has now raised more than $1400, donated by residents of the small town who wanted to thank the teenager for his heroic efforts, the Daily Mail reported.
News break – July 22
