Mum praises Million Dollar Fish winner's 'kind' act for stranded family
Sarrita King, an artist from Darwin, said Million Dollar Fish winner, Keegan Payne, and his friends made her family feel 'really safe'.
A mum has described the “absolutely amazing” moment Million Dollar Fish winner, Keegan Payne, stopped and helped her young family after a car crash left them stranded on the side of a dark, rural road.
Sarrita King, an artist from Darwin, shared the heartwarming story on her TikTok on Sunday after the elated 19-year-year-old had his celebrations cut short when he was questioned about his past during a live TV interview on Sky News.
Peter Stefanovic has since apologised to Payne for the controversial line of questioning regarding a vehicle theft he’d been involved with three years prior.
In the latest twist of the saga, King revealed in her video that she ran into Payne and his friends late last year as her family was driving back from Katherine, and their subsequent interaction was classic “Top End territory living”.
Million Dollar Fish winner helps stranded family
The group of “kids” were “on their way to go fishing for the Million Dollar Barra” when they stumbled across King, her partner and their children standing on the side of the road after their SUV collided with “a couple of buffaloes”.
“[They] came and actually towed us back to safety, which was about half an hour, so it was an hour out of their time,” the artist explained. “They were absolutely amazing, they restored both my partner and I’s faith in kids these days because they were so young and they towed us and they had so much confidence and made us feel really safe…”
King said the couple were so grateful for Payne and his mates’ help they, at the time, wished for the Good Samaritans to “have the best life”.
“Turns out, the kid went on to win the Million Dollar Barra this week and we have just been over the moon for him ever since,” she said. “And we just can’t stop smiling and thinking about it. So congratulations and how Darwin is that, like good karma.”
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Mum praises 'wonderful' and 'kind' Keegan Payne
Speaking to NT News, King said she had been stunned by how “well rounded, well spoken, and how confident” the young men had been. She described Payne as “wonderful” and “kind”, saying they proudly chatted about their shared love of Katherine.
“They were proper heroes,” she said, adding the $1 million prize couldn’t have gone to “a more deserving guy”.
“And the way he’s handled himself through everything, he’s going to be someone in the future — with all the pressure and all the scrutiny, he’s got his head screwed on.”
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