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Courtney Weatherburne reporting
Today the waters of the Macal river in Esperanza Village looked calm and inviting but on Friday morning, there was a strong current that capsized a dorey with a family in it.

David Landero, his wife and about 8 other relatives including his kids were heading to his grandmother's funeral on the other side of the river when they went overboard. Landero then sprang into action and scooped up the children but he couldn't reach his 2 year old son Mark in time.

David Landero, Father
"We were just about maybe 15 yards, maybe less, away from the river banks when a whirlpool hit our canoe. I just heard the thing like a vacuum, it just sucked the canoe down and I just hollered to my wife to give me my babies. She gave them to me. I have the 2 month old baby and the 7 years old in my hand and the 2 little girls. I tried to swim to the shore but the water was so strong and it washed my other bigger boy away from me. I was swimming to shore, the little girls were holding on to my hair and to my clothes hollering son, daddy, daddy or uncle down let go. I kept telling them to just hold on to me and they kept holding hard andI just asked the Lord to give me strength for me to reach the shore, but the water was so strong and it took one of my boys away. Then when I found my son, I swam to find my son and I gave him breath to try to revive him."

"There was a white male that had a house down below, he helped me gave CPR to the baby. We waited for the police to get there, because I told him I was going to take the baby to the street and ask for help, but he told me to wait at his house for the police to arrive."

The police arrived and they rushed baby Mark to the Loma Luz hospital where the doctors revived him.

David Landero, Father
"We got there and they told me that the heart of my baby had stopped. A few minutes later they called me and told me my baby is fine - that the heart had come back. They had him on stable to bring him to Belize City, but we stopped at Belmopan and on the way from Belmopan to here, he was lack on oxygen. He was doing fine."

Reporter
"When you say fine...?"

David Landero, Father
"His heart was beating."

Reporter
"And what about his brain?"

David Landero, Father
"I was informed that his brain has swollen. The following day they informed me that his brain was gone, but I notice that it was not gone, because when I talk to him, he squeeze my finger."

But that sliver of hope was short lived. Baby Mark died this morning. Landero says someone from the KHMH staff took his child off life support without informing him.

David Landero, Father
"This morning I came here and I prayed to the good Lord and I saw he was doing fine. I came down and I told my wife to go tell him good morning that you are already here. She came down and tell me that the baby is gone. I told her but how? she said I believe they took him off the machine without her permission. I don't understand why they did that to me. I can't take this anymore, why did they do that to my son when he was already fighting for his life. That's inhumane what they did to my child I believe."

The entire ordeal was terrifying and traumatic for the family but this is also a story of great heroism because if Landero didn't act quickly all the children could have drowned.

Andres Landero, Uncle
"He saved other kids lives than his own. I believe that what he had done - it was a hard time. I feel sorry for him."

We reached out to the KHMH for comment this evening, and here's what they told us just before newstime, quote: "We followed international protocol when dealing with the case - and the father was informed at every turn of what the hospital was doing. We are satisfied that we followed international standard of how to deal with patients in these situations. Doctors confirmed and reconfirmed the specifics of the case." End quote. Beyond that the hospital couldn't comment on the specifics because of patient confidentiality.