Chicago Trans Man Jumps Into Lake Michigan to Save Baby
Lio Cundiff jumped into frigid water despite not knowing how to swim and kept the 8-month-old afloat for four minutes.
Lio Cundiff was sitting on a bench near Chicago’s Belmont Harbor on February 18, talking on the phone with his aunt, when he looked up to see a woman screaming and chasing a baby stroller rolling toward the water after being carried off by the wind.
The National Weather Service had warned of sustained winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts reaching 50. The force of the wind sent the stroller — carrying an 8-month-old girl — into the lake.
While the baby’s mother stood in shock, Cundiff, a 31-year-old Chicago transgender man and server at the local restaurant Oak and Honey, jumped into the lake and swam to the stroller, despite not knowing how to swim. He fought to keep the infant from slipping beneath the surface.
“My only thing was ‘You got to get this baby out of here.’ If she’s going down, I’ll go down with her, but the goal is to get us both up,” Cundiff told the Chicago Tribune.
He tread water for about four minutes, with both he and the baby briefly dipping below the surface. The lake temperature was in the mid-30s.
“We dipped a couple of times,” he told Chicago CBS affiliate WBBM-TV. “There was one moment where I was like, ‘I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna hold on,’ so, like, I just kind of grabbed [the baby’s] hand and just, like, rubbed her hand a little.”
Eventually, another man tossed down his jacket for Cundiff to grab until a life preserver could be found. The man and the baby’s mother then helped pull Cundiff and the infant onto dry land.
Separate ambulances transported Cundiff and the baby to the hospital.
The infant was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital for observation and was reported to be in good condition. Cundiff was hospitalized overnight at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where doctors monitored his heart after his enzyme levels spiked to more than 13 times the normal range due to exertion, adrenaline, and cold exposure. His levels later stabilized, and he was released.
Cundiff told The Guardian that the baby’s family later contacted him to say the infant is doing well.
Cundiff, who also performs stand-up comedy on the local circuit, said his recovery has been going well, though he joked about the “ding, ding, ding” of mounting medical bills. His girlfriend launched a GoFundMe on February 20 that has since raised more than $70,000. The proceeds will help cover his hospital expenses and compensate him for wages lost during his recovery.
Cundiff has pushed back against online commenters who criticized the baby’s mother as careless or neglectful.
“When you almost lose your kid like that, you don’t need the world judging you too, especially when it wasn’t anything on purpose,” Cundiff told the Tribune. “There was no neglect or anything like that. It was just a freak accident.”
The 31-year-old told The Guardian that his decision to rescue the infant was rooted in simple humanity.
“All I did was a human act,” he said. “I’m just a human who did the most human thing you could do — which is save someone who can’t save themselves.”
More from Metro Weekly:
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.