Page 51 - May 2017 Newsletter

n BY NICK SWEDBERG
Detective honored for lake rescue efforts
Chicago Police Detective Donovan Jackson likes to joke that when he took the test for the Chicago Fire Department two decades ago, he scored “qualified,” while his long time close friend Rylenski Strong scored “well-qualified.”
But Jackson, a homicide de- tective who will hit 19 years on the job in June, points out that he scored “well-qualified” on the police exam. Those marks from long ago remain fitting descriptions for both men who were honored in April by the American Red Cross as the 2017 Emergency Medical Assistance Heroes.
On June 10, 2016, Jackson and
Strong were spending some downtime on jet skis in Lake Michi- gan. Jackson got off work and wanted to visit his boat, which was docked at the 59th Street Harbor. Strong already was at the lake. The sun was starting to set when Jackson noticed a yellow and green object on top of the water.
“I had no idea what it was, but something told me to ride out toward it,” Jackson said, adding, “cops and firefighters are never off duty.”
As he approached, he saw a man with no life jacket sitting on top of an overturned boat, Jackson said. Three people were in the water.
“The first thing they said was, ‘We have someone missing from the boat,’” he said.
Jackson and Strong previously worked as lifeguards at the 31st Street and Rainbow beaches. That experience from his younger days reminded Jackson that “if you’re not on the surface of the water, it’s not looking good,” he said.
Jackson had an extra life jacket with him that he handed to the man on top of the boat. Then, both he and Strong started taking people to shore. By the time they were ready to take the man on top of the boat back to shore, knocking noises could be heard coming from beneath the overturned boat, Jackson said.
A female passenger, who had been wearing a life vest, survived
the cold water in an air pocket underneath the craft. Jackson said they had called 911 during the incident, and emergen- cy crews eventually took over after all of the people from the boat had been brought to shore.
Jackson said it was a nice experience to be honored at the Red Cross breakfast ceremony, which was attended by approximately 800 people. The event recognizes first responders and others for their heroic efforts in the community.
Jackson hasn’t spoken with the people from the boat since the incident. Being a homicide detective who regularly deals with death at work, Jackson said he was glad what happened that evening in June turned out the way it did for everyone.
“If we hadn’t seen them, someone would have drowned,” Jackson said. d
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