Help pay good Samaritan hospital bi

Kristian Falkenstein charged into the surf during a particularly treacherous weekend for rip currents at the Jersey Shore last month, his only thought was reaching a swimmer clearly in distress.

He knew help would be coming, but feared the man might not survive until rescuers arrived.

“I couldn’t live with myself if I sat and watched the guy drown knowing I had the ability to do something about it,” said Falkenstein, a trained lifeguard who was playing volleyball on the Fourth Avenue beach in Belmar on Sept. 23.

Falkenstein, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, said he was the first to reach the swimmer who was struggling to stay above water. A Belmar cop and two lifeguards swam out to help, and the U.S. Coast Guard sent out a 29-foot rescue boat to pull everyone from the water.

When they arrived at the Coast Guard station, officials urged him to go to the hospital by ambulance to be evaluated, he said. Falkenstein said his head was spinning and it seemed a good idea at the time.

Until he got the bill.

“I basically saved the guy’s life and they stuck me with a huge ER bill,” he said this week.