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Bystanders Rescue Ex-Priest, 93, Whose Wheelchair Rolls Into Lake

(STMW) -- A 93-year-old former priest was rescued from Monroe Harbor Saturday afternoon when his wheelchair rolled in to the water.

About 3:15 p.m., the man and his caretaker were watching the Chicago Air and Water Show over the lake near a pumping station at the Chicago Yacht Club when they got distracted, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said. The area has no barrier between the platform and the water.

The man's wheelchair "got away" and went in to the water, but passersby got him out before firefighters arrived, Langford said.

He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was in "good" condition. On the way to the hospital, the former priest reportedly was in "great spirits," Langford tells CBS 2.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

 

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