A man was rescued by firefighters and sheriff’s deputies in critical condition from Druce Lake Wednesday afternoon. | Photo: Joe Shuman/J. Shuman Photography (2022)

A man is in critical condition after he drove his ATV on Druce Lake in unincorporated Lake Villa and fell through thin ice Wednesday afternoon.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Gurnee Fire Department responded around 4:05 p.m. Wednesday to Druce Lake in unincorporated Lake Villa for a report of an ATV that went through thin ice.

Dispatchers initially received reports that there were two people on the ATV when it went into the water, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived within two minutes of being dispatched and observed a 62-year-old man that went underwater.

A sheriff’s deputy used a rowboat from a nearby resident and rowed to the area in the water where the man was last seen, Covelli said.

A fire department diver arrived and deputies directed the diver to where the man was last seen.

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The diver located the man approximately six feet below the surface of the water and attached a rope to him, Covelli said.

A man was rescued by firefighters and sheriff’s deputies in critical condition from Druce Lake Wednesday afternoon. | Photo: Joe Shuman/J. Shuman Photography (2022)

Firefighters and deputies used the rope to pull the man to shore.

The man, who lives just east of the lake, was not breathing.

Paramedics and deputies performed CPR on the man and he was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville in critical condition, Covelli said.

A preliminary investigation showed the man was driving an ATV on the lake.

Witnesses say he was the only person on the ATV.

As the man approached the center of the lake, the backside of his ATV broke through thin ice.

The man and the entire ATV then dropped into the water, Covelli said.

Sheriff’s detectives are on the scene investigating, but foul play is not suspected.

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