A young man who can’t swim jumped into Lake Michigan to save an 8-month-old baby girl after her stroller rolled into Belmont Harbor in Chicago.
How far would we go for a stranger in need? Most of us would think twice before jumping into freezing water. But every now and then, God places someone in the right place at the right time and gives them the courage they never knew they carried.
On Wednesday afternoon at Chicago’s Belmont Harbor, a strong gust of wind caught a stroller carrying an 8-month-old baby girl and sent it rolling straight into Lake Michigan. The child’s mother could only watch and scream. She was too panicked to move.
That’s when Lio Cundiff heard her cries. Without a second thought, he jumped into the frigid water — even though he doesn’t know how to swim.
“I see a stroller getting blown into the lake and a lady screaming,” Cundiff said from his hospital bed. “I can tell she was too panicked to do anything, so I was, like, ‘I guess I’m jumping in.’ I wasn’t going to let that baby die. That’s crazy.”
He reached the stroller and fought to keep the little girl above water. They both went under more than once. “I’m just glad the stroller was up and not face down,” he said. “The baby dipped under a couple times, but I was able to keep her up.”
There was a moment when he wasn’t sure he’d make it. “I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna hold on,” he remembered thinking. So he grabbed the baby’s tiny hand and just rubbed it gently, holding on with everything he had until other bystanders rushed in and pulled them both to safety.
“She was breathing and crying when we got her out,” Cundiff said. When asked what kind of energy took over him in those moments, he smiled. “Turns out I’m a fighter, I guess. Always thought I was a runner, I guess not today.”
The baby girl was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital and listed in good condition. Cundiff stayed overnight for heart monitoring but was expected to head home soon. “I hope she has a really cool future, and I’m happy I was there,” he said.
God used Cundiff to save that precious young girl even though he didn’t know how to swim. Sometimes God enables us to do greater things even if we believe we are not eligible for that. But when we step in with faith, we can see how amazingly God used us for His purpose.
Let’s keep Cundiff in our prayers for a full recovery and lift up this little girl for a beautiful future ahead.
WATCH: Young Man Jumps Into Freezing Lake to Save Baby
