GRAFTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- A father and son were rescued from Lake Ripple in Grafton after their snowmobile fell through the ice.

One of their neighbors tried to help, but then he needed rescuing himself.

“When I realized the ice cracked. And the snowmobile was tipping over. And hearing the big splash -- it was pretty scary,” said Colby Vento.

Colby Vento was in his usual spot on the back of his dad's snowmobile when it plunged through the ice.

For ten minutes, the 10-year-old boy clung to his father in frigid water.

“He said Colby kept saying, “Dad don't let me die,’ he's hearing it still today in his head,” said Jen Germain, Colby’s father.

“There is a river basically that comes out, so that doesn’t freeze too often. When it does freeze, it's very thin,” said Chief Norm Crepaeu, Grafton Police Department.

The complicated rescue mission started when a neighbor realized the sound of a sled on Lake Ripple had suddenly stopped.

“Soon as I heard the engine cut out I knew something bad had happened," Roger Zaleski said.

Roger Zaleski raced out on to the ice while his wife called 911. He got as far as he could, then he saw the boy and his dad were beginning to panic.

“I threw a couple planks for them to hold on to but even with that, the water was so cold and I think they were starting to go into shock, they couldn't hang on to it,” said Zaleski,

When a police officer arrived with a buoy, Colby was able to grab hold and climb up out of the water; his dad struggled until rescuers got a canoe out to reach him.

Father and son are back home now recovering and relieved they made it out together.

“He’s just relieved that our son’s okay. He honestly thought he wasn’t going to make it,” Germain said.