Wentzville, MO, Fire Captain Whose Ice Rescue Inspired Movie Dies
A former Wentzville Fire Protection District captain, whose 2015 ice rescue of a boy inspired the film “Breakthrough,” passed away Sunday from a heart attack.
According to Fox2Now, Tommy Shine survived cardiac surgery in late 2025 but lost his limbs due to medical complications.
Using prosthetics, he recently attended a ceremony for his son, who joined an area fire department.
Shine rescued John Smith from the bottom of Lake St. Louis in January 2015. Smith had fallen into the cold water with other teenagers.
Firefighters from Lake St. Louis rescued the other teenagers but they couldn't find Smith.
After arriving with his ice rescue equipment, Shine entered the lake and eventually found Smith, who had been under for almost 15 minutes. The teenager was taken to the hospital without a pulse, but eventually made a full recovery.
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Ryan Baker
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Ryan Baker is a writer and associate editor with prior experiences in online and print production. Ryan is an associate editor for Firehouse with a master's degree in sciences of communication from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He recently completed a year of teaching Intro to Public Speaking at UW-Whitewater, as part of his graduate program. Ryan acquired his bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023 from UW-Whitewater, and operates currently out of Minneapolis, MN. Baker, also writes freelances for the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) in his free time, while also umpiring baseball for various ages across the Twin Cities Metro Area.