BluWater Bistro owner credited with rescuing boy from Lake Washington

SEATTLE — The owner of the BluWater Bistro in Seattle’s Leschi neighborhood is being credited with rescuing a teenage boy who went underwater Wednesday afternoon.

KIRO 7’s Gary Horcher, who spoke to officials and witnesses at the scene, said that a group of kids had jumped off a pier behind the restaurant and were swimming when someone yelled that their friend hadn’t come up yet.

One of the kids jumped in and hunted around by feel to see if he could find anyone, but came up empty.

Bart Evans, who owns BluWater, jumped in and headed straight for the bottom, Horcher reported. He felt a boy’s foot and pulled him up. Bystanders were able to help Evans get the boy onto the dock, where they performed CPR.

"I pulled him up by his foot," Evans said, recalling the rescue. "I was first able to come out of the water and surface, and got his foot above, and then I got up above water, and then somehow we got him over to the pier and got up up, and did CPR and mouth-to-mouth on him."

The Seattle Fire Department said the boy had a pulse when rescue workers took him from there to Harborview Medical Center. His condition is unknown.

KIRO