Karen Wessel, Arlington Heights mother, drowns in Star Lake after saving 3 children

Emergency officials said two boys and a girl were swimming back from a sand bar across a small channel when they became very tired and began to struggle.

Wessel, 47, and two other women jumped into the water to save them. Two made it back safely. She drowned while saving the last child.

Rescue crews were able to pull Wessel out of the lake, but she died at the hospital.

Click to expand...

Nova said:

We ALL need to practice how to deal with an emergency in the water. (I'm assuming WI water is very cold, even in July.)

If your lungs are full of air, you cannot sink (unless you are weighted down like a scuba diver).

So relax. If you are in moving water point your feet downstream so that if you hit a rock, you do so with your feet and not your head.

Breathe deeply whenever your face is out of the water. The air in your lungs will keep you at the surface and you can stick your head up to take additional breaths.

Do the above until help arrives, you land on a rock or sand bar, or you get rested enough to swim to safety.

Let's ALL practice this whenever we get into water, particularly moving water.

Bottom line, though, is RELAX and BREATHE. Unless you are caught in a tsunami or stranded in the middle of the ocean, there is always a way to survive, even if you are a poor swimmer. Unfortunately, most victims panic, stop breathing, and sink.

None of the above is a criticism of the victim in this case. She gave her life for a child and is a hero by any definition!

Click to expand...