The father of a 9-year-old Chicago girl who died after jumping into Lake Michigan on Saturday to save her little sister called her “my little hero.”
Pedro Bahena, 29, said his family was preparing a cookout at Indiana Dunes State Park in Beverly Shores about 3:30 p.m. Saturday when his daughter, Destiny, and her sister, Yahira, 6, decided to go exploring.
“Before I could look up, she was gone,” Bahena said.
Destiny was pronounced dead about 1:50 a.m. on Sunday at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Ind.
“I knew she was going to fight,” the father said, adding, “She’s my little hero.”
Yahira was in fair condition Sunday.
About 15 friends and family members from Chicago were at the water’s edge when a boy playfully pushed Yahira and a wave crashed over her, preventing her from getting back up, according to police. Destiny went in after her, police said.
Family members did not immediately notice the girls missing and began looking for them about 15 minutes later, police said. Neither girl knew how to swim, according to the police report.
More Top Picks Radios Boats
Destiny was found floating about 20 feet out in the lake, barely conscious, according to the report. CPR was administered by family members and an Indiana conservation officer.
Pedro Bahena and his wife have two other children, Pedro Jr., 12, and Aliana, 5.
Jose and Felipa Capistran, neighbors of the family, said Destiny and her two younger sisters played with their granddaughters every weekend.
“The little girls smiled all the time,” said Jose Capistran.
One of the Capistrans’ granddaughters, Bianca Martinez, was a classmate of Destiny’s at Schubert Elementary School.
“She was a great friend,” Bianca said.
Tribune reporter Jeremy Gorner contributed to this report.