“Just wanted to let everyone know as if skyline aviation hasn’t done enough for my brother and family, they have refunded the $1000 to my family for the flight to find my brother,” Samuel’s sister wrote on Facebook. “I thank you again from the bottom of my heart.”
What would you do if your child was missing and the police told you to just to sit home and wait? You probably wouldn’t sit home and just wait.
Tony Lethbridge was not about to sit around when his 17-year-old son Samuel went missing.
The Australian dad hadn’t heard from his son in 24 hours when Samuel Lethbridge left the Central Coast region of New South Wales and drove to meet his girlfriend in Blacksmiths which was a short distance away and never arrived.
Source:
Simone De Peak
“They told us that he might have ran away, he could have done this or he could have done that, and we just said, ‘It’s out of character; it’s not him,’” Tony told Fairfax Media. “They put all the things in motion, and we waited and waited. They just told us to go home and wait.”
That didn’t sit well with Tony.
He had a funny feeling that Samuel got into a car accident somewhere along the Pacific Highway. He had heard of someone getting in a crash in this area before and died before he was found several days later. Tony was not about to let that happen to his son.
Source:
Michael Lethbridge
“With the way the bush is there, if a car goes in you’re not going to see it. The only way you’ll see it is from the air,” he explained. “And that’s what we did.”
Tony went to the closest airport offering $1,000 to the first helicopter pilot he saw and asked the pilot to help him look for his son.
Samuel’s car was found within a few minutes and a short distance from their home. Samuel was alive and dehydrated after being stuck in the car for 30 hours. His thigh bone was also broken and protruding from his skin. He also had a broken arm, dislocated elbow, and fractures.
Source:
Supplied
“Obviously we were ecstatic when the signal from the ground was [indicated] that Sam was still alive, even though we were unaware of his condition,” the helicopter company told The Syndney Morning Herald . “We have been very lucky to be able to help this family in their time of need and are looking forward to meeting Sam once he is well enough.”
They not only helped to save Samuel’s life but they did one better.
Learn more about this father’s attempt to save his son in the video below.
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By D.G. Sciortino
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D.G. is a contributing writer in Shareably. She's based in Connecticut and can be reached at [email protected].