(CBS) CHICAGO It’s not every day that a woman in her eighties helps with a lake rescue, but on Thursday, an East Lakeview resident did just that.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Mike Krauser reports, Gladys Owens, 86, better known as Cookie, is the talk of her retirement home in the 3100 block of North Sheridan Road.
Her building overlooks Belmont Harbor and on Thursday, she witnessed a scary sight.
“I’m looking straight out at the lake and I’m on the 14th floor and I saw a little, very small boat, and it was very rough water and it looked like there was two men in the water,” Owens said.
The sight sent her scrambling for her binoculars, and when she got a closer look, her worries were confirmed. There was a small sailboat, "but there was no one out there to come and give them any aid.”
Owens called 9-1-1, but the Coast Guard could not find the boat on the rough lake, so they called her back. With binoculars in one hand and a telephone in the other, she guided them to the boat.
The Coast Guard found the boat and helped the sailors, but their job was not finished before they called Owens back again.
"Thanks, Mrs. Owens," they said.
