Jogger says life ring helped save man from drowning in Lake Michigan

Life ring Photo credit Getty Images

By Steve Miller

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — People who were on the lakefront at North Avenue on Monday morning say a life ring helped save a man’s life.

It was a little before 6 a.m., and Joe Stacy of the northwest suburbs was out for a run when he noticed an orange rope in the water.

The rope was attached to a life ring, and he noticed a couple of people trying to help a man who was in the water.

“That orange rope is very distinct. It caught my attention, which then made me look over into the water to see that he was there and then run,” he said. “They were probably 50 or 60 feet away, and so then I ran up to them.”

Stacy said the man was holding onto the life ring, but the two men who were trying to pull him out couldn’t do it alone. When Stacy arrived, they got him out.

After some debate, the park district installed life rings at several beaches.

By next year, life rings at every access point will be state law.

And Stacy says it’s a good law.

“Those life preservers are going to save a lot of people’s lives, for sure,” he said.