The terrifying moment presented an opportunity for Joyce to shift her perspective as a mom, she admitted. "I've had to learn to let go," she told the magazine. "You learn that things like a messy room aren't that important because it could be an empty room. You learn to appreciate life and start looking at things that matter."
For John, now 18, it was the opportunity for a fresh start. "I had a lot of issues," he said of his pre-accident self. "I was chasing after what I wanted instead of what God had for me."
Despite having no memory of the incident—pictures of him and his friends posing on the ice moments before they fell through have only brought back bits and pieces of the day, he told the Post-Dispatch—and no lasting physical harm, he was left to grapple with what his survival meant. "I had to deal with answering the question of 'Why me?'" he told People. "After time and a lot of prayer and mentoring, I eventually saw that God is the only way to get through something like this."
In the years since the accident, John has toured the country, speaking to young people. As for the future? "Next I'm going to college, hopefully marrying this one," he told E! News' Erin Lim on the red carpet at the L.A. premiere of Breakthrough earlier this month, pointing to girlfriend Abby Medaris, "and seeing where God takes us."
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