A person was rushed to the hospital Friday after being pulled from the Chicago River near LaSalle Street downtown, with witnesses describing a tense scene as the swimmer struggled to swim before grabbing hold of a life ring.
Witnesses Describe a Frantic Struggle in the Water
According to ABC7 Chicago, witnesses said the person was struggling to swim and yelled to the crew of a boat on the river for help. The person was ultimately able to grab a life ring, witnesses told the outlet, before being pulled from the water near LaSalle Street. The Chicago Fire Department confirmed that a person was taken from the location to a hospital, though officials said the person's condition was unknown at the time.
The station said it was still working to learn more from police about the incident, describing it as a developing story. No police account, exact rescue time, or official incident report has been released publicly.
Separate Reports Describe a Bridge Fall and CPR Effort
Other outlets reported a different river rescue more than eight months earlier, on Friday, February 13, 2026, involving a 65-year-old man near the DuSable Bridge. WGN-TV reported that a Wendella tour boat crew spotted the man in the water near the bridge around 11:30 a.m. Friday and performed man-overboard procedures to bring him aboard, with passengers assisting the crew in administering CPR after he was initially unresponsive. The outlet reported he regained consciousness and was later listed in good condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
FOX 32 Chicago similarly reported that a man fell from the Michigan Avenue, or DuSable, Bridge into the river around 11:30 a.m. Friday, February 13, 2026, and that a Wendella crew pulled him from the water. That outlet reported he was unresponsive when rescued but that passengers helped with CPR and he regained consciousness, adding that his condition was not immediately known. It remains unclear whether these accounts of a bridge fall near the DuSable Bridge describe the same incident reported near LaSalle Street or a separate rescue entirely.
How Chicago Crews Respond to River Emergencies
A Wendella operations chief told WGN-TV that the company's captains train for man-overboard situations two to three times a month, though a rescue involving an unresponsive person is rare during the colder months. The Chicago Fire Department's Marine Unit, meanwhile, responds to water emergencies across the city around the clock, according to CBS News Chicago, which reported that a typical water emergency can draw roughly 11 companies and about 40 firefighters and paramedics. The Marine Unit responds to nearly two dozen incidents along the Riverwalk in a typical season, per the same report.
City guidance posted by the City of Chicago warns bystanders not to jump into the river themselves, noting that would-be rescuers can become victims too, and points to the bright yellow life ring boxes mounted on bridge abutments along the waterway as the safer option in an emergency.
Not the First Downtown River Rescue
Downtown river rescues have made headlines before. In February 2018, a man was pulled from the river near LaSalle Drive after a passerby threw him a life-preserver ring, according to Patch. Fire crews also rescued a man from the river near Wacker Drive and State Street in the Loop on a Friday in cold weather, with ABC7 reporting he was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in very critical condition. And this past July, a 70-year-old man was hospitalized after being rescued from the water at Montrose Harbor by bystanders, according to NBC Chicago.
As of Friday, the identity of the person rescued near LaSalle Street, their exact age, and how they came to enter the river had not been verified. The final medical condition of that individual also remained unclear, as fire officials had not confirmed an update beyond the initial hospital transport.
