Woman in Wheelchair Pulled from Lake

Chicago police Marine Unit officers who'd just completed a training drill on Friday night were called to action after two people -- one of them in a wheelchair -- fell into Lake Michigan at DuSable Harbor.

Officers Kevin Hitney and Kurt Haner were working about a quarter-mile away when a call came of people in the water came in at about 9:45 p.m.

At the harbor, they found a 59-year-old man holding onto the dock with one hand and the 60-year-old woman with the other, Hitney said.

Both people, as well as the wheelchair, were pulled from the water.  The woman was not breathing and had no pulse, Hitney said, so the officers began using the training they'd just received, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, to revive the woman.

"To having [the equipment] here and having it ready and having everybody work as a team, trained the same way, rescue people the same way, everything went off without a hitch," said Hitney.

Both people were later taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Hitney was told the woman was alert and talking.

The pair fell into the water accidentally, said News Affairs Officer Amina Greer.  The man was wheeling the woman down a ramp at the Columbia Yacht Club when they slipped, she said.

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