Michigan City Fire Department crews search for a possible drowning victim at Washington Park Beach, after pulling others from the water late Sunday afternoon, July 3, 2022. Michigan City Fire Department photo
MICHIGAN CITY — A hot and sunny Fourth of July weekend meant crowded beaches across Northwest Indiana, and for Michigan City firefighters and lifeguard crews, it also led to a number of rescues from Lake Michigan.
At least nine people were pulled from the water after struggling with currents, according to the Michigan City Fire Department. Lifeguard crews and firefighters rescued four on Saturday, and at least five more Sunday.
“Washington Park lifeguards rescue four actively drowning victims Saturday ... they just rescued three more,” the MCFD posted on Facebook on Sunday afternoon.
“These holiday weekends are especially busy and stressful for the guards.”
And that was before a report of two, and possibly three more people struggling in the lake late Sunday afternoon.
Indiana DNR Conservation Officers are investigating the Sunday incident in which a husband and wife were pulled from the water at Washington Park.
At about 6:45 p.m., emergency personnel were notified two swimmers in deep water in the beach area began to struggle against the current and went below the surface, a statement from IDNR Law said.
Beach goers and first responders rescued Jose Lopez, 21, of Chicago, who was transported to Franciscan Health Michigan City in stable condition.
About 10 minutes after Lopez was pulled from the water, MCFD divers located his wife, Blanca Calva, 19, also of Chicago, and pulled her from the water. She was transported to Franciscan Health MC in critical condition, according to IDNR.
Chris Breach of Kankakee, Illinois, had come the the beach with his family, part of an annual July 4 tradition, and they played a big role in the rescue.
Breach was in the water swimming with his daughter, Veronica Breach, 27, a student at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis.
They had first tried to visit Indiana Dunes State Park, then Warren Dunes in Michigan, but both were full, so they had dinner in Michigan City and went to the beach.
Chris Breach said they were in water up to their shoulders when someone told them someone went under and had not come back up.
“My daughter, who was wearing goggles, dived under and found him in just a few seconds. She pulled him up and we dragged him toward the shore. He was limp and unconscious, but still warm.”
Breach said as they neared shore, they started calling for help, telling people to call 911. “Then a man and woman took him from us and started CPR.”
They there heard that a woman went under too, “so we went back out and dived under a few times until Michigan City Fire and Rescue units got there ... they found her right away.”
Veronica Breach said she doesn’t feel like a hero, but was just in the right place at the right time. “I think I actually played a pretty small role,” she said.
A good swimmer and former member of her school swim team, she said was swimming with her dad and “a man said someone was struggling ...
“We saw other people over there and thought he had come back up, but the guy said no. So I dived under and I saw him right away at the bottom.”
She said the man was “staring down and floating, completely limp” – so limp that when she grabbed him and pulled him to the surface, “I had a hard time keeping his head above the water” until her father grabbed him too.
She called the experience “surreal,” adding, “It’s really odd. When you think about someone drowning, you imagine them yelling and thrashing around in the water, but it was just quiet and still down there.”
Chris Breach simply said, “If you believe in God, I think he brought us there for a reason.”
MCPD received reports of multiple drownings, and arrived to find one victim out of the water being treated by La Porte County EMS.
Multiple fire crews entered the water in search of a second victim, who was “quickly located at the bottom of the lake.”
MCFD Dive Team member Kyle Gish went down and retrieved the victim then passed her off to the secondary rescuer Joshua Allen, according to MCFD.
Allen, connected to a water rescue rope, administered two rescue breaths and was pulled in by onshore crew members.
“All agencies operated quickly, effectively, and efficiently,” MCFD reported. “Michigan City Police played a vital role with crowd control, as well as additional manpower with transporting the patient to EMS.”
There was speculation there may have been a third victim, so MCFD crews and team members, along with a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, searched for another hour, “at which point it was determined there was no third victim,” MCFD said.
No condition updates were provided on the latest victims, but La Porte County Coroner Lynn Swanson said her office had not been notified of any drowning deaths as of Monday afternoon.
Dave Benjamin of the The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project issued a statement expressing concern over the high number of drowning rescues leading up to the 4th of July.
“A lack of public water safety education, crowded beaches, and the holiday hype could be contributors to this uptick,” said the GLSRP executive director. “Luckily lifeguards and first responders have been on the spot to respond to these incidents.”
Prior to the weekend, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department reported the rescues of three struggling swimmers at Lake Street Beach in Gary, he said.
“It was reported that a 15-year-old girl helped two others, ages 8 and 9, to safety,” Benjamin said.
Chuck Fazekas, Lake Station Fire Chief, said two of the girls took on water and needed medical assistance at the scene.
Lake Street Beach does not have lifeguards this summer, Benjamin said.
The GLSRP had reported 47 Great Lakes drownings so far in 2022, at least 20 in Lake Michigan, as of June 28.
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