Here’s How Colorado Man Bounced Back After Nearly Getting Frozen Alive in a Freak Ice-Skating Accident

James Moore and his friends had this tradition where they would travel to Lake San Cristobal in the San Juan Mountains every year during Winter to ice-skate. It felt like any other year, but tragedy often strikes when you least expect it. While skating, he heard a loud crack and the next thing he knew, he was in the water. The frozen lake had cracked open, dropping James and his four friends into the freezing water below.

“It was all out of nowhere; I heard the crack and then I was in the water. It was ice-cold and I struggled to get out. But I only felt myself sinking with my body feeling heavier than it ever had before. My life flashed before my eyes and I thought it was the end for me.”

— James Moore

And it nearly was, with four bystanders taking over three minutes to get him out of the water, while it only took less than a minute to get his friends out.

By the time 911 dispatch got there, it had been over ten minutes since they pulled James out. Medics determined that his friends only had mild hypothermia. But James was in a bad state, frostbitten. While doctors managed to save all his limbs, James was left with permanent nerve damage.

“His body was in a terrible state due to how long he was in the water and the time it took for him to get medical attention. We managed to avoid amputation of the frostbitten limbs, but the nerves in his extremities were heavily damaged. James will never be able to engage in intense physical activity ever again without being in extraordinary amounts of pain.”

— Dr. Ian Bold, Telluride Medical Center

Afterwards, James’ friends furiously confronted him, blaming him for the incident.

“They said I nearly killed them, and I knew they were right. Even before the incident when they told me to lose weight, I never listened. I was filled with guilt over the incident. It opened my eyes and made me realize that I needed to lose weight.”

— James Moore

This was the start of his weight loss journey.

James tried almost everything, from the most popular fad diets like Keto, Flexitarianism, and Intermittent Fasting to expensive ones like going Vegan, Gluten-Free, and Weight Watchers.

“I even tried a bunch of different exercise routines, but the pain from my nerve damage made it impossible. I even considered getting Liposuction or a Gastric bypass, but they were too expensive. Nothing was working, and I felt hopeless. My guilt and failure to lose weight pushed me into depression. I started binge eating, going from 326 lbs to 354 lbs. This was the lowest point of my life.”

— James Moore

His spirit was broken, and he almost gave up. If not for a chance meeting with an old high school classmate in the street, Jake Young.

Back in high school Jake was so big that people called him a ‘landwhale’. James was in shock. The slim and fit Jake in front of him looked nothing like a whale. Desperate, James asked him how he lost all that weight. Jake smiled and handed him a patch which he called an Artesiv™ patch.

He was skeptical, how could this tiny patch help him lose weight?

“Honestly, I thought it was some sort of scam. But I was desperate, so I gave it a shot. When I first put it on, I couldn’t tell a difference. It was after a week when I noticed my pants being looser than normal. I got on a weighing scale and saw that I lost 16 lbs, a month later and I lost 67 lbs. I even had to change out my wardrobe for smaller clothes. Three months in, I lost a total of 183 lbs and felt healthier than ever.”

— James Moore

It was then when James reached out to his friends to apologize for the accident and reconcile. Seeing his effort, they forgave him. They were proud of how far he came. More than anything, James was on cloud nine about being slim and healthy for the first time in his entire life.