CHICAGO (CBS) ― A young woman survived a plunge into the icy waters of Lake Michigan thanks to a quick response from the U.S. Coast Guard. But as CBS 2’s Vince Gerasole reports, officers rushed to her aid not by boat but on foot.
Survival for this young woman came thanks to a few fortunate circumstances. She fell into waters in the shadow of the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Wilmette Harbor. An open window there helped officers hear her frantic calls for help in the middle of the night.
“Down at the end of the harbor there’s a few benches and it was right off one of the benches and she was clinging onto one of the tires on the break wall,” said Petty Officer Chris Summers as he pointed to the spot where a young woman was holding on to save her life.
It was one a.m, and the waters were lethally cold. Fortunately the U.S Coast Guard Station at Wilmette Harbor was barely a football field away, and the officers there heard the young woman’s cries for help through a cracked window.
“It was so clear and loud and it was piercing,” said Seaman Reginald Edwards.
“We were running full speed to the sound of her voice,” said Summers.
In an instant Petty Officers Summers and Kevin Ray dashed to her aid in the dark, still wearing their pajamas.
“We looked over the edge here,” said Ray.
He said as Summers lay flat on the ground reaching over into the water he could not touch the victim. Ray grabbed Summers feet and lowered him closer to the woman.
Ray said he took off his shirt and sweatshirt and took off her soaking clothes. He held her, warming her body with his own body heat.
At times the young woman began to slip in and out of consciousness. The officers eventually wrapped her in blankets and set her on a heat protective hypothermia capsule until EMS crews could arrive.
Summers said she was never coherent enough to say what happened.
Still, the woman did survive her plunge into the icy waters of Lake Michigan, thanks to the servicemen who came running from a stone’s throw away.
“In this case your training pays off you have a job to do and that’s what you do,” said Ray.
Water temperatures at the time of the accident were roughly 35 degrees, which could lead to hypothermia and death in a matter of minutes. The woman’s name isn’t being released, but she was taken to Evanston Hospital where authorities say she is listed in stable condition.
Wilmette police had no additional information on the incident.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
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