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The Shocking True Story Behind Breakthrough Might Make You Believe in Miracles

17/01/2019 - 11:25 PM

On April 17, fans of This Is Us [1]'s Chrissy Metz [2] can see the small-screen star achieve leading-lady status on the big screen. Metz stars as distraught mother Joyce Smith in Breakthrough. Based on a true story and a memoir (The Impossible: The Miraculous Story of a Mother's Faith and Her Child's Resurrection [3]) by the real Smith, the film depicts a real-life miracle story of a teenage boy who falls through an icy lake and nearly dies, only to revive when everyone believed hope was lost. The film already looks like a full-on tearjerker [4], and we can't even imagine how emotional the real-life experience was for everyone involved.

The seemingly miraculous recovery sounds more like the stuff of inspirational films than real life. But in the case of Smith and her son John (played by Marcel Ruiz), it's actually both [5]. Read on to discover the incredible true story of hope and survival behind the upcoming film.

The Smiths

Born in Guatemala, John Smith was adopted as a baby by Brian and Joyce Smith of St. Charles, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Devout Christians, the Smiths raised John in the faith as well. According to the bios on the film's website, his mother Joyce travelled extensively [6], even living in Canada and in Germany for a time, before settling down in Missouri. The Smiths have three more sons, as well as five grandchildren.

The story that would become Breakthrough began on a January day in 2015. As reported to NBC, John and two of his friends were walking on a frozen lake when the ice failed [7], and the trio all fell into the icy waters of Lake St. Louise. One of the boys managed to keep himself above water by clinging to a piece of ice, and another made it to shore to call for help. John, however, could not do either, and by the time paramedics arrived on scene and rescued the boys, he had been submerged for 15 minutes.

John's Prognosis

First responders administered CPR for 15 minutes before doctors at St. Joseph Hospital West took over for another 27 minutes. Being unresponsive for that long is typically not a good sign. Neither was John's body temperature. Dr. Kent Sutterer explained the situation to the local NBC affiliate, whose story was then reported [8] in the New York Daily News.

"I remember his temperature was 88 degrees when we checked it . . . And in my mind, this is a very grim, very poor chance of survival." After working on John for 45, the medical team believed all hope was lost. They called Joyce into the room so that she could say goodbye to her son.

How Did John Survive?

Upon entering John's hospital room, a distraught Joyce began to pray. Within moments, as the staff in the room told Today, his heart began to beat again [9]. And within 48 hours, he had opened his eyes and was responding to the doctor's questions.

The doctors were mostly baffled as to how John survived, with brain function intact. Dr. Jeremy Garrett told the Daily News that the only medical explanation was, ironically, the freezing temperatures of the water.

"For John's brain to have gotten cold to be protected from the lack of blood flow and the lack of oxygen really is a miracle in itself, if that did anything here."

The Smiths, at least, believe it to have been a miracle from God. John had to undergo physical therapy to regain full function in his hands and suffered from a persistent cough for some weeks after the ordeal. In 2017, Joyce published The Impossible: The Miraculous Story of a Mother's Love and Her Son's Resurrection, a memoir based on the experience, which was then optioned for the film that would become Breakthrough.

"There's no really any explanation but how God wanted me to live for a reason so I'm alive now," John told Today at the time.

Watch the Trailer!

Breakthrough is set for an Easter 2019 release.


Source URL
https://www.popsugar.co.uk/entertainment/Breakthrough-Movie-True-Story-45689601