Fisherman thanks Chicago firefighter who saved him
By TINA SFONDELES Staff Reporter tsfondeles@suntimes.com January 10, 2012 9:36AM
Chuck Wahtola thanks Chicago Firefighter Bill Miller, who saved Wahtola after he fell into Lake Michigan while they both were fishing at Diversey Harbor last week. | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times
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Updated: February 12, 2012 8:08AM
When Billy Miller was 10, he stood with his father and watched in awe as Chicago firefighters rescued a man from Burnham Harbor.
Now a Chicago firefighter himself, Miller on Tuesday came face to face with a fellow fisherman he rescued from Diversey Harbor last week.
The two embraced at Miller’s station — Engine Co. 42, at Illinois and Dearborn — with tears in their eyes. Then, Chuck Wahtola, 67, put his arm around Miller.
Wahtola says he owes his life to Miller, 37. Just moments after the two met on the dock on Jan. 4, Wahtola had slipped into near-freezing water. He shouted, “Billy! Billy!”
Miller ran to the dock to see Wahtola in the water, with just his head above water. Wahtola’s folding chair had collapsed, sending him slipping into the water.
Miller reached down and grabbed Wahtola with one hand and reached for his phone to call for help with the other. He was unable to pull him out but kept him afloat for about 15 minutes until help arrived from his fire station.
“Chuck just remained very calm,” Miller said. “He laid on his back and was floating on his back ... He never panicked. He knew that we were going to help. Once he heard me talking to my guys at the firehouse, he knew that we were going to be able to come out of this.”
About a week later, Wahtola hasn’t stopped talking about the rescue, his family says.
“I was just so calm knowing Billy was there,” Wahtola said. “I was just so calm. I didn’t really know I was getting that cold.”
By the time help arrived, Wahtola was turning blue.
The retired engineer from Joliet has two artifical shoulders, two artificial knees and a bad back.
“I just said, ‘Please pull me out gently, but whatever you do, please get me out,’ ” Wahtola said. “And so they did.”
Wahtola said Miller kept offering encouraging words.
“ ‘Chuck, you can do it,’ I heard Billy say,” Wahtola said.
Both said they’ve been back fishing since the rescue, though not with each other. At least not yet.
“We’re going to go fishing together,” Wahtola said. “I’ve found a new lifelong friend.”
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