A B.C. teen says he’s lucky to be alive, and is thanking rescuers that saved him from a frigid lake Thursday afternoon.

Denilson Ventura-Becker, 16, was crossing a partially frozen lake in Oliver (Tuc-el-nuit) when the ice cracked and he fell into the water.

“I was walking on the ice because I thought it was thick enough – but it turns out it wasn’t,” he says. “Suddenly it just cracked on me. I was scared…terrified.”

Ventura-Becker says he started to sink, but desperately held onto the ice, trying to keep his head above the water. He thought he would die without saying goodbye to his family.

“I was starting to get numb. I felt like I was slipping off, and I couldn’t feel anything,” he says. “Things got fuzzy and I don’t remember much.”

His brothers saw the teen fall in, and called for help. A neighbour came to the rescue, as did fire crews, BC Ambulance, and RCMP.

Attempts to send a person into the water also failed, the ice simply too treacherous. Rescue crews then threw ropes to the teen, who was 80 feet from shore, but the life-lines were too short.

Ventura-Becker’s mother Jamie Becker says she wanted to go into the lake herself to save her son, but neighbours held her back.

“They said, ‘no, we don’t need two of you in there’,” she recalls. “I was in shock. It was surreal, I felt like I was in a movie.”

Finally, a canoe was used to reach Ventura-Becker, then throwing him ropes and eventually pulling him into the boat.

The teen was rushed to the hospital with only minor hypothermia – something his mother is thankful for.

“I’m just grateful people responded so quickly and everybody worked in their own way to get him out of there so he wouldn’t go under,” she says. “I feel extremely blessed.”

As does Ventura-Becker, who says he’s learned a valuable lesson. “I was happy to get saved,” Ventura-Becker says. “I was relieved…I feel lucky to be here.”

Photos on CTV courtesy of Oliver Daily News

Photographs one and three credit CTV