Man who rescued cat stranded outside during Hurricane Ian donated nearly $15K to Naples Humane Society
By Gage Goulding
Click here for updates on this story
NAPLES, Florida (WBBH) — The man who rushed into Hurricane Ian’s storm surge to rescue a cat stranded outside just donated nearly $15,000 to the Naples Humane Society.
Mike Ross, 29 of Naples, was riding out the storm at his parent’s home on Bonita Beach. That’s when his mother looked out the window and saw the small cat perched on an air conditioning unit at the neighbor’s house.
“All I knew is she was scared and she was shaking,” Ross told NBC2 last week.
On Wednesday, Ross and his girlfriend, Megan Scavo, presented a check for $14,570 to the Naples Humane Society from an online fundraiser they created after their story went viral.
His mother is the one who recorded his selfless act. Ross was seen wading through the incoming storm surge to reach the cat and bring it to safety.
Gage: “Some people might say ‘Mike, you’re crazy for going out in this weather to save this cat. What do you say to that?”
Mike: “I think it would be harder to look at the animal perched on the AC unit knowing that it was gonna die than it would be to go out there and save it.”
Ross’ girlfriend, Megan Scavo, posted the video online where it went viral.
The couple created a GoFundMe to raise money as a result. They have since adopted the cat, now named “Storm” and wanted to raise money to help other animals impacted by Ian.
In total, they raised more than $30,000. Half of which is being donated to the Naples Humane Society and the other half will be split between another charity and to help rebuild their Naples home, which was under eight feet of water.
Ross said there’s a lesson for everyone to learn here: you can always help those in need.
“I think a big takeaway is that when you have the opportunity to do something good, help someone out, help a cat out, like I did for Storm, you should take that opportunity.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
