Bystanders Rescue Man From Ill. Lake

Nov. 14--Bystanders saw a man jump into Lake Michigan from Navy Pier and then pulled him out over the weekend, police said.

The man, about 21 years old, was seen jumping into the lake from the pier near 600 East Grand Ave. about 11:35 p.m. Saturday, police said.

David Martin, 23, and his fiancee, Eilis Smith, 24, both of Omaha, Neb., had been at a concert Saturday night and were outside on the east end of the pier, enjoying the view of the lake, when they came across a man who seemed to be having hallucinations.

The two went up to him to try to calm him down, the couple said Sunday in an interview at the pier.

"We approached him and asked him if he needed help, tried to calm him down a little bit," Martin said. "He didn't respond to us on any level."

The couple tried to move the man back toward the building housing the pier's Grand Ballroom, "hoping to get some sort of medical help," but the man began repeating phrases they thought were related to a hallucination.

"He just started saying things like 'They're coming, they're coming, they're coming!' Gets into the fetal position and was like grabbing at her leg . . . just, like, terrified out of his mind," Martin said.

About this time, Ron Romero, a sound man for a band that had played an event at the Grand Ballroom, noticed something was going on between Martin and the man who was crying out. Romero had been loading equipment into his van.

Romero thought Martin and the other man were friends and that they were arguing, Romero said Sunday.

Then, Martin and Smith were yelling for help, and Romero went over to see what he could do.

Martin saw there was a life-preserver ring in a box nearby. He handed it to Romero before he stripped down to his T-shirt and underwear and dove into the lake to grab the man, who by this time appeared to be in a "dead man float," his face in the water and his legs submerged, Martin said.

Romero tried to grab the man by his belt, but found he didn't have one. Martin, however, was able to get the man on his back, and Romero ran back into the ballroom, where he found some people to help. Some grabbed tablecloths and they hauled Martin and the other man out of the water and wrapped them in the fabric, Romero said.

The man was unresponsive when he was first pulled out, but he coughed and started breathing irregularly soon after, Romero said.

Emergency crews arrived. By the time the man who had jumped in the lake was loaded into an ambulance, he appeared to be awake and more responsive, Romero said.

"I'm so surprised that he made it," Romero said.

The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Romero had left his van running nearby, and only after all the excitement did he realize he'd locked his keys inside. But the back was secured with a padlock, and firefighters who had come to the scene were able to cut it with a bolt cutter, he said.

Martin was checked on the scene for hypothermia.

"We were just lucky the night unfolded the way it did, because we just happened to be there at the time," Martin said, standing next to Smith on the pier. "If we hadn't, he might have gone in and no one would have been around to see it. So, we're just really grateful that we were able to be there when we were needed."

The Chicago Tribune's Liam Ford contributed.

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