College Student Rescued After Strolling 1,000 feet Across Lake Michigan

A college student had to be rescued Friday morning after walking 1,000 feet across the shore of Lake Michigan at Promontory Point. The water is about 20-feet deep in that spot. Concerned bystanders called 911.

“I was strolling on ice because I found it was solid, and I found it relaxing,” said the student. “I heard police sirens, so I came back.”

The student didn’t know he was on the water, he told the Chicago Fire Department, once he was rescued. The man is a local college student from overseas, said Jason Lach, CFD Marine Unit Chief. 

“He was out just for a walk back home … he had no idea he was on the ice at first,” said Lach. “He was more than 1,000 feet offshore on broken ice.” 

The man wandered around the lake for roughly 40 minutes said, witnesses. 

“He was very far into the lake and then all of a sudden he disappeared, and we were terribly worried that he was going to fall into the lake, so we called 911,” said Deirdre Squires, a Lake Michigan swimmer. “The lake is frozen, but it’s only been frozen for two days … so it any point, he could have hit a weak spot.”

Shortly after 8 a.m., the man was removed from the ice in an inflatable canoe. Witnesses said the man, unaware of the danger he was in, could be seen waving away rescuers. 

The student received a ticket for disorderly conduct. According to one bystander, he should have been arrested because the ordeal was stressful to watch.