Jakob Thompson, 17, jumped a Boynton Beach inlet to rescue a woman who was struggling against the rough waters, according to Sun Sentinel.
A teenage good Samaritan from Florida is being rewarded with a scholarship after he rescued a drowning woman in a Boynton Beach inlet last month, according to reports.
Jakob Thompson, 17, jumped a Boynton Beach inlet to rescue a woman who was struggling against the rough waters, according to Sun Sentinel.
“I wasn’t sure if she was dead or drowning or what the situation was,” Thompson told Sun Sentinel.
Thompson saved the woman and got help from two other men who brought her to dry land as the rough waters crashed around them, according to reports.
Boynton Beach Fire Rescue arrived on the scene and the unidentified woman walked away unscathed after the situation, according to Sun Sentinel.
"Putting my life out there to help somebody came with a reward, but I was never looking for one," Thompson told CBS 12.
Had the teen had not intervened, she may have been in much worse shape, Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Lt. Tyler Hoffman told Sun Sentinel.
“As soon as her body fatigues enough where she can’t keep her head above water, she would have drowned,” he said. “The percentage of us finding her quick enough for a positive outcome decreases to almost zero.”
A few weeks after the rescue, the Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Team invited Thompson for a tour of one of their stations and had a little surprise in their plans, according to CBS 12.
Thompson’s heroics caught the attention of local Sarah Perry, who lost her son while he tried to save someone drowning in a lake. Since his death, Sarah started “The Aden Perry Good Samaritan Scholarship Fund,” aimed at rewarding students for their heroic acts, CBS 12 reported.
"When I saw Jakob’s story it just grabbed my heart, and I immediately knew I had to see him," she told CBS 12. "I knew I had to meet him, and I had to hug him because he did what my son did. He is like my son. He didn’t think, he didn’t hesitate he just jumped in and did the right thing.”
During Thompson’s tour of the station, Perry surprised the teenager with a scholarship award so he could enroll in the fire academy, something he had dreamed of, according to CBS 12.
"It's gonna cover all of his schooling, all of his bunker gear, everything that he needs is in that envelope," Sarah told CBS 12.
It’s the first time Sarah Perry has given out the hero award scholarship, CBS 12 reported.
"Now after having a scholarship, it's gonna take care of everything and I know I'm going to be able to finish my schooling as a firefighter," Thompson told CBS 12.
