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In our exclusive video, Joyce Smith, whose book, "The Impossible," inspired the new movie "Breakthrough," and her son John recall the day that John fell through the ice on a frozen lake and...
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- Guideposts
- Why Were John Smith and His Friends on The Ice?
- Did The Kids Know That The Ice Was Unsafe?
- Was John Smith Really Under Water For 15 minutes?
- How Deep Was The Lake Where John and His Two Friends Fell in?
- Does John Smith Remember Anything from The Day He Drowned?
- How Did The Other Two Boys Get Out of The Water?
- Had Joyce Smith Been Talking to Her Son Seconds Before He Went Through The Ice?
- How Long Did John Smith Have No Pulse?
- Did John's Heart Start Beating Again After His Mother Prayed Next to him?
- Is Actress Chrissy Metz (who Plays Joyce) A Believer in The Power of Prayer?
"You don't expect to be in that situation," John Smith said. "We all thought that we were just going to have fun, to celebrate. It's a holiday. We'd just won a basketball game, so we were just going to have a good time, but we weren't expecting that [with] one wrong move, we would be all one second away from dying." The photo shown below of then 14...
Yes. The Breakthrough true story reveals that the temperature had risen to close to 60 degrees that day and the ice on Lake Sainte Louise (near St. Louis, Missouri) had started to melt. "We could still step on it, but it was startin' to give way and water was going on top of it," recalled John. The three boys cracked the ice before stepping on it t...
Yes. Our Breakthroughfact check confirms that John Smith was under water for approximately 15 minutes before rescuers, including Tommy Shine, found him on the rocky bottom of the lake and pulled him to the surface. John was in the frigid water for a total of more than 20 minutes.
The lake was about 10 feet deep where John and his two friends went through the ice. After John succumbed to the frigid lake and drowned, his lifeless body was discovered on the rocky bottom.
Yes. "I remember the screams," Smith says. "'Call 911! I don't wanna die!'" He remembers being under water and coming up above the ice. He recalls fighting for his life and the burning sensation of the frigid water and the ice cutting his skin as he tried to climb out." He says that he tried to push ice to his friends for them to grab on to so they...
John's friend Joshua Sander managed to pull himself out. The other boy, Joshua Rieger, was trying to get out by pushing onto the ice and pulling himself, but the ice kept breaking. He was eventually pulled out when rescue personnel arrived.
Yes. In the film, they are just texting, but in real life, they talked on the phone after first texting. "I'd talked to him moments before he went into the water," Joyce Smith said. "In fact, he basically hung up the phone from me and the ice cracked under [him], he went under. So that was around 11:30 a.m. They called me at 11:52 a.m. to tell me."...
In researching the Breakthrough true story, we learned that John Smith was without a pulse for about an hour. He'd spent 15 minutes under water and another 40-plus minutes without a heartbeat after he was pulled from the lake. It was during that time that he was technically dead. "No spontaneous respirations. No heart tones. In essence, he was cold...
Yes. The doctor approached Joyce and told her she could go up and talk to her son to say her goodbyes. "He was doing that because he was getting ready to call time of death," says Joyce. She walked up to the end of the bed and touched his feet, which were the only part of his extremities that were uncovered. She recalls them being cold and grey. It...
Yes. "It's helped me so much in my life," she told Inside Edition, "and I think it's the reason why I'm standing here, you know, at this incredible premiere."
Apr 15, 2019 · This Is Us star Chrissy Metz's new movie, Breakthrough, tells the true story of Missouri teenager John Smith. In 2015, John was submerged underwater for 15 minutes following a lake accident.
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- heatherfinn@hearst.com
BREAKTHROUGH, based on the true story of a local mom who prayed her son back to life, is in theaters April 17th. Today is the movie premiere in St. Louis. It's not open to the public but the...
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- KSDK News
Jul 11, 2019 · Meet the real family behind the impossible true story and hear them discuss the global prayer support they received. Watch #BreaththoughMovie on Digital...
Apr 12, 2019 · John Smith was just 14 years old when he fell through an icy Missouri lake in 2015. After being rescued from the frigid waters, John was rushed to a local hospital, where, with no pulse for nearly...
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Apr 10, 2019 · The Amazing True Story of 'Breakthrough' : How a Boy Survived Drowning After an Hour of Being Dead. Missouri teen John Smith was lifeless for an hour before his heartbeat started again—as his ...