Runners save drowning man in Chicago

Three runners in Chicago saved a man from drowning in Lake Michigan Tuesday morning near the city’s North Avenue Beach.

According to the Chicago Tribune, three runners noticed the man drowning not far off the shore. Two jumped in to help save the man while a third ran to a nearby paddle board rental shop to borrow a board to return him to shore. A woman on shore called 911.

The three men propped the fully-clothed drowning man, 40, up on the paddle board and got him to shore safely. He was reportedly dazed and coughing up water. Paramedics took him to a nearby hospital in fair condition.

The first man in the water was 28-year-old Godfred Hansen-Nord, a New York City resident who was in the city visiting. John Corba, one of the other runners, told the Tribune he noticed the man at about 7:45 a.m.

“Someone jumped in to get him because this guy was about to go under. I had just passed a stand-up paddle board rental and went to get one,” said Corba.

The local fire chief praised the quick thinking of the runners. The paddle board shop said it’s not the first time their boards have be used to save people from drowning.