The toddler who fell into
Lake Michigan when the wind blew his stroller off the walkway over the weekend is improving Monday morning.
"I think he will be OK," a man who identified himself as the boy's father said. "I hope so. We are praying."
Anvar Teparic, a family friend, said the 2-year-old's parents were optimistic when he spoke to them Saturday.
"The last I'm hearing from his father is that he's doing better still," Teparic said. "I hope so."
The boy's grandfather was taking him for a walk when a strong gust of wind blew the stroller, with the child buckled in, into the water.
His grandmother told the
Chicago Sun-Times that the 2-year-old is doing better, "brain, liver and kidneys."
The boy was listed in critical condition Friday at
Children's Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after a dramatic rescue by members of the
Chicago Fire Department's dive team.
Divers found the boy, still strapped in his stroller, about 10 feet beneath the water's edge. A strong wind gust apparently propelled the stroller into Belmont Harbor, where water temperatures were 42 degrees, shortly after 2:30 p.m. Friday.
The child's grandfather, who was sitting on a bench next to the stroller, plunged into the lake after the boy, screaming, "Boy! Boy! Boy!" witnesses said.
Horrified onlookers quickly dialed 911, and divers found the boy in zero-visibility water within 15 minutes of arriving.
The grandfather, 65, was in stable condition at
St. Joseph's Hospital on Saturday.
Although friends and relatives are optimistic, the toddler's grandmother said she was also cautious because the boy was under water for 15 minutes.
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