He Couldn't Swim, but 'I Wasn't Going to Let That Baby Die'

Some heroes don't wear capes—or life jackets. A man who says he can't swim dove into Lake Michigan anyway this week after spotting a baby in a stroller blown into the water, then somehow kept them both alive. Police say a strong gust sent the 8-month-old's stroller into the water in Belmont Harbor around 3pm on Wednesday, triggering screams from the woman with the child, reports CBS News. Hearing the cries, Lio Cundiff jumped in.

"I wasn't going to let that baby die. That's crazy," he said, per ABC7. He told CBS News Chicago from his hospital bed that he and the infant "dipped a couple times," recalling a point when he doubted how long he could hang on and reached for the baby's hand. "There were a few times where I didn't know if I was gonna stay up long enough," he says, per the Chicago Sun-Times.

Cundiff managed to keep the infant's head above water until others joined in and pulled them both out. Among those who helped retrieve him and the baby was local Luis Kapost, who hurled one end of his Chicago Cubs jacket to Cundiff so he could at least be tethered to Kapost back on the shore.