I'm Missing Something Here

Lifeguard gets bill after ocean rescue

Seventeen-year-old John Clark, a senior at Hudson's Bay, says he didn't think twice about running into the ocean to save a drowning 12-year-old.

But what he hasn't stopped thinking about, is the bill he received as a result of his effort.

The emergency room bill came to $449. The physician's bill was $227. The 15-mile ride in the ambulance to Tillamook: $1,907. The total bill for saving a young man's life? Nearly $2,600.

I'm missing the part about where it is the responsibility of John Clark to pay the medical bills of a 12-year old that he saved from drowning. It is not his child. Why is it not the responsibility of the parents to pay it? John may not have thought twice about saving that kid but if it happens again he sure will.