LAKE SAINT LOUIS • As one 14-year-old boy who fell through the ice at Lake Sainte Louise remained hospitalized Tuesday, another who survived took the microphone at a prayer service.
“We did a really stupid thing," he said. "We walked out onto the frozen lake and fell in. I ask you to help (John) make it through, and help his family.”
On Wednesday morning, the boy at the center of those prayers improved.
John Smith, who was under water for about 15 minutes before he was rescued, was awake, recognizing people, and moving on command, according to the Facebook page for Living Word Christian School in O'Fallon, Mo., where Smith is an eighth grader.
"This is miracle realm, folks!," the post went on to say.
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Smith and two other teens fell through the ice at the lake Monday morning, shortly after they had been warned about the thinning ice.
John remains hospitalized at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center.
John and his parents, Brian and Joyce Smith, attend First Assembly Church on the North Outer Road in St. Peters, where about 300 people gathered Tuesday night to pray for the family.
Lead Pastor Jason Noble said that he and other members of the church had been at the hospital all day and that John’s condition seems to be improving.
“We see the miracles that God is doing,” Noble said.
During the one-hour prayer service, Noble and several other assistant pastors and members took turns praying for the family.
The other two boys who fell through have not been identified but also are eighth-graders at Living Word Christian School in O’Fallon, Mo., according to school officials. They were expected to return to school Wednesday after being treated for hypothermia.
On Tuesday, classmates wore blue — John’s favorite color — to show their support, according to the school's Facebook page.
The boys fell through the ice about 11:35 a.m. Monday behind the lake association’s headquarters, 10 Cognac Court.
The recent 50-degree temperatures had caused the ice to thin to about 2 inches in some places, firefighters said. The boys fell in about 40 yards from the nearest boat dock.
Police officers and firefighters wearing special ice suits worked frantically to get John and another boy to shore. A third boy was able to get out of the water on his own.
John had no pulse and wasn’t breathing when he was pulled from the 40-degree water.
Hospital officials released a short statement from the teen’s mother Wednesday: “God is good, and my son is awake and responding to commands,” it said.