Two people were transported to the hospital after one became sick and another fell into the water in Riverwoods during a canoe race down the Des Plaines River in Lake County.
The Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District responded around 12:45 p.m. Sunday to the Edward L. Ryerson Conservation Area, 21950 North Riverwoods Road in Riverwoods, for a medical call.
Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Steve McCaughey said crews arrived and found a person who became sick and overheated.
The person had been canoeing in the Des Plaines River in the area of the nature preserve.
They were part of the Des Plaines River Canoe and Kayak Marathon event that began around 8 a.m. Sunday in Libertyville.
It was the 69th annual event and is an 18.5-mile race that runs from Libertyville to Cook County, according to the event flyer.
A 5.25-mile minithon starts at Potawatomi Woods and finishes at the same location, the event flyer said.
The person who became overheated was on shore when paramedics arrived and did not need assistance out of the water, McCaughey said.
While crews were on the scene, another canoer in the race got too close to the area where the first canoer was and somehow fell into the water at a rapid part of the river.
McCaughey said another canoer assisted them out of the water and brought them to shore where paramedics evaluated them. Multiple fire department resources responded to the scene.
Both patients were transported by ambulances to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville in good condition.