Three Lake County sheriff’s deputies were honored for their efforts in trying to save a 27-year-old man who drowned at the Illinois Beach State Park near Zion in July.
Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg recently awarded the deputies with the “Sheriff’s Lifesaving Award.”
Deputies Matt Savage, Wayne McCracken and Stevan Georgevich were dispatched with the Beach Park Fire Department around 5 p.m. July 5 to Illinois Beach State Park in unincorporated Zion for a report of a water rescue.
Several witnesses told Lake and McHenry County Scanner at the time that a bystander at the scene used a drone to help locate the victim in the water.
Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli said that the victim, a 27-year-old Waukegan man, was approximately 100 feet out from shore in Lake Michigan.
A Good Samaritan swam to the man and brought him back to shore.
The three deputies conducted CPR and used an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in an attempt to revive him for several minutes before the ambulance arrived.
“Their life-saving efforts resulted in the man regaining a pulse before being transported to the hospital. Excellent work deputies!” the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Paramedics transported the man to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan where he later died.