Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Trans man jumps in frigid lake & saves baby from drowning: "I wasn't going to let that baby die"

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/02/trans-man-jumps-in-frigid-lake-saves-baby-from-drowning-i-wasnt-going-to-let-that-baby-die/

Molly Sprayregen (25 Feb 2026)

30-year-old trans man Lio Cundiff has been hailed as a hero for jumping into Chicago's frigid Lake Michigan to save a baby whose stroller was blown into the water by a strong gust of wind.

Cundiff recounted hearing the mother scream and then observing her being frozen in shock. "And so I just jumped in," he told the Chicago Tribune. "My only thing was, 'You got to get this baby out of here.' If she's going down, I'll go down with her, but the goal is to get us both up."

Cundiff told ABC 7 Chicago that the mother was clearly "too panicked to do anything."

"I was, like, 'I guess I'm jumping in... I wasn't going to let that baby die. That's crazy."

He held on to the stroller, in which the 8-month-old girl was strapped, while treading water for several minutes. He said the pair went under a few times, but they were ultimately helped up a ladder to safety and transported to hospitals in separate ambulances. Both are reportedly in good condition.

"I'm just glad the stroller was up, not face down," Cundiff said, speaking to ABC from his hospital bed. "The baby dipped under a couple times, but I was able to keep her up. And she was breathing and crying when we got her out."

Kudos to him for saving the child.  But why was his being trans relevant to the story?  I guess that the old journalistic motto of "If it bleeds, it leads" has morphed into "If it's trans, it scans."

I thought exactly the same thing, Kathy. And then I thought, "Who wouldn't go in after the baby?" other than the mother who was in shock and people who can't swim. I think the vast majority of us here would have. But we're trans, so we can't help it.

Quote from: KathyLauren on February 25, 2026, 06:16:04 PMBut why was his being trans relevant to the story?  I guess that the old journalistic motto of "If it bleeds, it leads" has morphed into "If it's trans, it scans."

One lesson we learned about spotting propaganda was to selectively remove a keyword from the story. In this case, "trans". If the story still holds and still makes sense, it hasn't lost any context.

Therefore, the addition of that keyword --> propaganda/clickbait.

I figured since the article is in LGBTQ Nation, it's intended to be a kind of "Hey, look, everyone. Trans people have the same values as everyone else."

The last paragraph of the article says:

In an interview with the Guardian, Cundiff said he hopes the moment emphasizes that trans people are just human beings. "Because all I did was a human act," he said. "We are human, and we're the same as everyone else. And we don't deserve the hate that we've gotten."


So, in that context, I guess it makes sense.

Think twice about it in Kansas, though.