WESTFIELD, NY- A woman died while attempting to save her son after his water tube drifted out too far on Lake Erie Wednesday, according to the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office.
Christen Stefan, 37, went to Shore Haven Beach with her son and two family friends, the sheriff's office says.
According to the sheriff's office, two of the children were playing with a water tube on the lake when they began to drift out to deeper waters due to the wind and wave action.
Stefan swam out to assist the two children, but the sheriff's office says the three of them began to drift east to a cove in the rocky cliff shore line due to the currents.
The three then began to climb the cliff and back to land, when the sheriff's office says Stefan's son fell back into the water.
Stefan continued to help her son but vanished under the water, according to the sheriff's office.
Stefan's son drifted east and was eventually pushed back 200 yards off shore, where the sheriff's office says a Shore Haven resident saw him and swam out to rescue him.
Both Stefan and her son were transported to Westfield Hospital, where the sheriff's office says Stefan was pronounced dead.
The sheriff's office says Stefan's son is being treated for hypothermia.
