WATCH NOW: Man falls through shelf ice on Lake Michigan; officials warn of hidden dangers nwitimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nwitimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Shelf ice or sand? Group urges caution after man plunges into Lake Michigan
Updated Jan 28, 2021;
A man plunged into Lake Michigan this week when he thought he was walking on sand; it was shelf ice covering the lake’s surface along the shoreline.
Walking on shelf ice is extremely dangerous, Dave Benjamin, executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, told The Times. At the same time, it’s difficult to know where the sand ends and the shelf ice begins.
Johnny Jacobsen, of Chicago, learned that the hard way on Tuesday, Jan. 26, when he and his wife were walking along Loyola Beach. Jacobsen’s wife was recording a video when her husband unknowingly wandered onto the shelf ice and suddenly dropped into knee-deep water. The video shows Jacobsen fall in and then climb out the while he and his wife laugh off the scary moment.
Taylor said he jumped in, put the man on his surfboard and told him to hold onto the nose of the board. The surfer then paddled him to a latter on the pier where he helped the man out of the cold water.
According to a Facebook post in the private group Lake Michigan Surfing, the man was 10 seconds away from going under and the surfers raced to save him from 39-degree water.
“After I took this picture the ‘swimmer’ [man walking on the pier] said ‘this is the smile of a guy who is so happy to be alive right now, the Facebook post read.
Surfers credited with rescuing man swept from pier into chilly Lake Michigan nwitimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nwitimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.