by Kevin Burton
Have you ever felt the winds coming off one of the Great Lakes? Nothing to trifle with I assure you.
Today we have a story from the Good News Network about just how strong those winds can be, and two heroes who saved the life of a baby.
My Great Lakes wind story was less harrowing but quite unpleasant.
On my second visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, I was with my brother and sister and my then girlfriend Jeannette. We parked the rental car quite a distance from the Hall and man, those winds cut right through us. My time in Ohio was spent in the central and southwest parts of the state. I hadn’t spent any real time in Cleveland.
Don’t remember how far we walked, but that wind made it seem like 100 yards.
I was born in North Dakota, grew up in Ohio and spent two plus years working in Alaska. That wind coming off Lake Erie matched anything I had ever encountered.
Keep that in mind while checking out this story, written by Andy Corbley of GNN about a baby who blew into cold Lake Michigan.
“From Chicago comes the story of a pair of heroes rescuing an infant that had been blown into Lake Michigan,” Corbley writes.
“Lio Cundiff, 30, was on the phone with his aunt at Belmont Harbor when he felt the wind pick up fiercely, followed by a bloodcurdling scream from a woman close by.”
“Cundiff knew exactly what had happened—the wind caught the bassinet of a stroller, and, as the nursery rhyme goes, down went baby cradle and all—right into the lake.”
“I just realized that the lady wasn’t able to help because she was in too much panic, which is understandable. So I’m like, ‘I guess I’m going in,’ and I just jumped,” Cundiff told the Chicago Tribune. “I had no idea what the plan was.”
“Reaching the stroller, Cundiff couldn’t get the baby out and had to lift the top half out of the water to stop it from sinking.”
“Enter Luis Kapost, an American Airlines pilot who was the second on-scene, and paired Cundiff’s impulsive-heroism with a more measured response. Realizing Cundiff was treading water with 30-plus pounds of soaking wet stroller, he tossed one arm of his Chicago Cubs jacket to him, which Cundiff admitted helped a lot.”
“Holding onto the other arm of the jacket, Kapost kept Cundiff afloat until the baby’s nanny arrived to help him lift the stroller out of the water.”
“First responders arrived to take man and baby to the hospital.”
“Yeah, I called work, called my girlfriend. My aunt was on the phone. She heard the whole thing. I just threw my phone down and I guess she called my mom. I was just trying to make sure they all knew I was fine and the baby was good,” Cundiff told local news.
“Despite the weather being fair, the water was still cold, and at the hospital they discovered that Cundiff was experiencing elevated heart enzymes that concerned the doctors enough to recommend an overnight stay.”
Kapost applauded Cundiff’s effort.
“That’s the epitome of a hero, someone who’s going to act, to help somebody else they don’t know even though they’re placing their own life in danger,” Kapost told the Tribune. “He’s an absolute rock star.”
“As for Cundiff, he admitted that being called a hero felt weird: labeling himself just a server and stand-up comedian in the right place at the right time.”
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