A man almost drowned Sunday morning at the Lighthouse Beach, authorities said.

The Evanston fire department responded to reports at about 8:30 a.m. that an elderly man had nearly drowned, fire chief Greg Klaiber said.

According to the latest reports, the man is still alive, Klaiber told The Daily around 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

“He had a pulse, but was unresponsive when we arrived,” Klaiber wrote in an email distributed to Evanston media.

Paramedics rushed the man to Evanston Hospital in “extremely critical condition,” Klaiber wrote in the email.

The man had been swimming with his wife, when she noticed he was face-down in the water. She and other beachgoers pulled him out of the water and began CPR, Klaiber said.

“It’s unfortunate and hopefully the measures taken by both the bystanders as well as our personnel will prevail,” Klaiber said.

Authorities are not releasing the man’s name at this time, Klaiber said.

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