Kevin Michael O’Connor saved a man from drowning, Geneva, Illinois, April 19, 2014. While kayaking, a man went over a low-head dam spanning the Fox River and was carried downstream by the swift current. O’Connor, 40, librarian, was in a park on the bank of the river about 250 feet downstream of the dam when he was alerted to the situation. He entered the 49-degree water and waded out to look for the man, having to go beneath a low bridge that blocked his view downstream. Clearing the bridge, he saw a life jacket being swept downstream about 150 feet ahead of him and then swam to it. Finding that the life jacket was attached loosely to the man, who was submerged, O’Connor lifted the man’s head to the surface of the water, grasped him under the arms, and swam him toward the bank, en route effecting attempts to get him to breathe. Those at the bank assisted in pulling the man from the water, and O’Connor exited to safety also. The man required hospital treatment, and O’Connor was tired after the rescue. He recovered.
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