MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — What had been a quiet day on Lake Michigan turned frightening when a toddler nearly drowned.
His mother lost her grip on an inflatable duck, and her toddler started drifting away.
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A witness managed to get the attention of water safety instructor Dave Benjamin.
He started to make his way toward the toddler on a paddleboard, but then things went from bad to worse when the toddler fell off the inflatable duck.
Benjamin knew he only had seconds before things could take a tragic turn and he called out to a nearby boat.
"I'm just like, you know, we've got seconds if those floaties don't keep him up. If that boat wasn't there, there's a strong likelihood that toddler could've submerged before I could've gotten there," Benjamin told WMAQ.
A woman heard the call and jumped into the water with a life jacket, and got hold of the toddler just in time.
NBC