Two Missouri boys recovering after lake rescue

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Two teenagers were recovering Wednesday after their rescue from a frigid lake in suburban St. Louis.

Michael "Frankie" Ho, 16, and Michael Throgmorton, 15, had ventured 75 feet from shore when they fell through a soft patch of ice near the lake's center Tuesday night, said Battalion Chief John Moody with the Community Fire Protection District in Overland.

The Ritenour High School sophomores had walked onto the ice-covered lake at Wild Acres Park in Overland. A call for help came from a third boy who also had walked onto the lake but had not fallen through, a fire dispatcher said. She noted that the boys were stranded for up to an hour before rescuers could reach them.

Both boys were conscious when pulled from the water in the nighttime rescue, but one wasn't able to walk. They were about 50 feet from each other.

"They were very cold and very, very lucky," Moody said.

They were taken by ambulance to SSM DePaul Health Center for treatment of hypothermia. Michael Ho was treated and released Tuesday night in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Michael Throgmorton was transferred to SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center for observation overnight and was expected to be released Wednesday, hospital spokesman Bob Davidson said.

Moody said the boys were in the water 10 minutes before the emergency call came in at 5:45 p.m.

The boys fell through a thin patch of ice and couldn't work their way up to more firm ice.

"This is a very lucky, happy conclusion," Overland Police Chief Jim Herron said. "The park was closed after dark, and they should not have been there. You cannot see the water from the roadway. Fortunately other children were with them who had cell phones and called us. There would have been a tragic end to this" if the other children had not been there, he said.

Rescuers in suits to protect them from the cold, and with lines attached to them, crept out to the boys, breaking ice as they went and getting submerged to their shoulders.

Herron cautioned people to avoid going onto ice-covered bodies of water unless it's for a supervised event.

"This part of the country, we don't normally have sufficient cold weather for a long, sustained time long enough to make most lakes and rivers safe," he said.

Herron said the sun was out Tuesday and temperatures were above freezing.

Given the circumstances, there would probably not be any charges filed, even though the youths were trespassing by being in the park after dark, Herron said.