A comedian from Chicago has been praised for his bravery after plunging into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan to rescue an infant from a stroller that had been swept away by a sudden gust of wind.
Thirty-year-old Lio Cundiff was strolling near Belmont Harbor around 3 PM on Wednesday when he was alerted by a woman’s desperate cries for help.
As he looked up, Cundiff witnessed a stroller being driven by fierce winds directly towards the water.
“I saw that the woman was too overwhelmed to act, which is completely understandable, so I thought, ‘I guess I’m going in,'” he shared with the Daily Mail.
Without hesitation, Cundiff abandoned his phone, shed his jacket, and sprinted towards the water’s edge.
In a matter of moments, he leaped into the icy lake, despite not being particularly confident in his swimming abilities.
‘If this baby’s going down, I guess I’m going down with it,’ he said.
‘I’m more of a floater,’ he added of his skills in the water.
Lio Cundiff, 30, was hailed as a hero after diving into the icy waters of Lake Michigan to save an eight-month-old baby girl, despite barely knowing how to swim. He is pictured in hospital after the incident
The baby was blown into the lake while in her stroller (bottom right) prompting Cundiff to dive in
The stroller, which was zipped closed, made it difficult to reach the child.
‘There was no way of just getting the baby out,’ Cundiff said. ‘I was just doggy paddling as much as I could.’
At several points, both he and the stroller dipped below the surface.
‘My head went under the water a few times,’ he said, explaining that he briefly rolled onto his back to regroup before grabbing the stroller again.
‘I just kept that stroller up as much as I could.’
He said the stroller stayed upright, which likely prevented the infant from drowning.
When the baby was pulled out of the water, she was breathing and crying and very much alive.
Other bystanders rushed to help. A man named Lou climbed down a ladder and assisted Cundiff and the baby back onto dry land.
A GoFundMe has been created by his friends to help with medical expenses after Cundiff was also hospitalized
Cundiff, 30, was walking near Belmont Harbor around 3pm Wednesday when he heard a woman screaming
Chicago police confirmed the infant was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital for observation and was initially listed in good condition.
Cundiff never got chance to speak with the mother and does not know her name but defended her against online critics who have since claimed she should have paid closer attention.
‘I’ve been looking online and people were kind of talking s*** about the mom, and I think that’s not cool,’ he said.
‘Something like that could happen to anyone. It’s not like she was being careless. The wind was off and on.’
‘This mom just almost lost her baby. She doesn’t need the internet telling her she’s a bad mom.’
Cundiff was later admitted to hospital himself, where doctors monitored his heart after he experienced chest pains following the shock of the freezing water.
He said medical staff were evaluating irregular readings and may conduct further testing.
A GoFundMe has been created by his friends to help with medical expenses.
Cundiff also defended the mom against online haters, insisting the scary situation could have happened to anyone
The comic, who joked he was hoping his big media moment would come from stand-up, said he’s just grateful he happened to be in the right place at the right time.
‘I had no plan,’ he said. ‘I was just jumping in hoping that I could keep us both afloat.’
