Christopher Bischoff

Christopher Bischoff saved a girl from drowning, Kenosha, Wisconsin, August 27, 2023. As two preteen sisters fought to remain above the surface of Lake Michigan in the choppy current near a beach, their stepmother, 38, entered the water to help them and also struggled. Earlier that day, weather officials warned of life-threatening waves and dangerous currents in the lake. Alerted on the beach, Bischoff, 34, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, waded into the surf along with a friend, another off-duty deputy, and they swam to the girls. Bischoff reached one girl, whom he tucked against his body, while the friend responded to her sister, whom she grasped but released after a struggle. Bischoff, who had difficulty swimming the panicked girl back toward shore, submerged, held her so that her head was above water, and pushed her forward while walking underwater. Bischoff struggled to progress toward shallow water. Bischoff, who swallowed water, resurfaced and separated from the girl, who remained near her sister and stepmother. As the waves moved the girl closer to shore, Bischoff regained a hold of her, towed her into wadable water, and she returned to the beach. After the friend guided her sister to Bischoff’s partner, who escorted her to shore, the friend then swam to the stepmother and dragged her into shallow water, where Bischoff and the friend’s partner helped her to the beach. Both girls and the stepmother were taken to a hospital for treatment. Bischoff, who was nearly exhausted afterward, also went to a hospital as a precaution and was discharged that evening.