Evergreen Park Man Helps Rescue Woman from Chicago River

An Evergreen Park man leaving his downtown Chicago office joined others in aiding the rescue of a suicidal elderly woman from the Chicago River at about 1 a.m. Friday.

Ken Fryer, a copy editor for Sun-Times Media and a longtime associate of Evergreen Park Little League, had left the company's office on North Orleans and was headed across the bridge that spans the river when he heard people scream for help. He saw a woman in the water, and Fryer broke a glass case on the bridge containing a life preserver.

Someone threw the life preserver to the woman, and Chicago Fire Department rescue crews arrived on the scene. A CFD rescue diver, Jaime Delgado, pulled the 79-year-old woman from the river. The woman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

“It was just her head above water,” Fryer told the Sun-Times. “Thank God (crews) came here because I don’t think she had much left.”