John Smith fell into freezing water, and doctors thought he was dead — until his mom prayed.
"Breakthrough" tells the true story of one of the most miraculous recoveries ever.
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 45 minutes, he was declared dead.
But then something remarkable happened: He woke up.
The incredible tale is being retold, Hollywood-style, in "Breakthrough," starring Chrissy Metz and Josh Lucas.
Inside Edition's Megan Alexander spoke to the real John, who still can't believe he's alive. "I should be dead," he said.
His initial sensation upon falling through the ice was "cold" and "shock."
"My life flashing before my eyes," he said. "My family, my friends, realizing, 'This is it.'"
SSM Health physician Kent Sutterer, played by Sam Trammell in the film, just assumed John wouldn't make it when he arrived at the hospital.
"The fact that he had been gone so long," said Sutterer, "in my mind, he was not coming back."
So he got down on one knee and broke the news to John's mom, Joyce Smith: Her son, he said, was dead.
But that didn't deter Joyce, a devout Christian who prayed and prayed for her son's life.
And then his heart began beating again.
"It was as if the Holy Spirit walked through the door and started John's heart back up," Sutterer said.
Most miraculous of all? He was totally normal and had suffered no brain damage at all.
"Breakthrough" opens in theaters on April 17 and is based on Joyce's book, "The Impossible."
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