Woman Pulled From Lake Michigan In Critical Condition Near 87th Street
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A young woman was in critical condition Friday afternoon, after Chicago Fire Department divers pulled her out of Lake Michigan in the South Chicago neighborhood.
CFD Battalion Chief Patrick Maloney said firefighters responded to a call of a person in the water around 1:50 p.m. on the lakefront near 87th Street.
A Fire Department helicopter deployed two divers into the water, and the divers brought her to shore, where other firefighters and Chicago Police Department Marine Unit officers helped pull her from the water, Maloney said.
Maloney said the rescue proved an extra challenge because of choppy conditions on the lake, and because the spot where she went in the water is at the old U.S. Steel site in South Chicago, making it more difficult to reach.
"It's kind of off the beaten path, as they say, along the lakefront, and the old barge channels that were in there, and also the breakwall. It's very difficult to get back there," he said.
The woman, who appeared to be 19 or 20 years old, was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital in critical condition.
Maloney said it's not clear how long the woman had been in the water.
About two hours earlier, the Chicago Police Department Marine Unit pulled a body out of the water from the Calumet River near the 95th Street bridge, approximately one mile away. The victim, a male, has not been identified.
The National Weather Service has issued a beach hazards statement for the Chicago lakefront through Saturday morning, due to waves of up to 6 feet high, and strong currents that make for dangerous swimming conditions.
