9-year-old boy dies after saving his 6-year-old brother from drowning

ORMOC CITY, Philippines — It was a heroic act for a 9-year-old boy to risk his life in saving his 6-year-old brother from drowning at a wide river in Barangay Lilo-an of this city Thursday afternoon.

The local police said Mark Kevin Potente died after saving his younger and only brother from drowning at the river where they were swimming together with a cousin.

Edwina Rosales, the boy's aunt said, that Mark Kevin–after saving his drowning sibling into safer ground–was carried away by the strong current brought about by the sudden surge of waters from the mountain.

When the rush of water slightly subsided three hours later, Mark Kevin's body was found stucked at the base of a bamboo clump, about five meters from where he was last seen alive in the river. He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

The city rescue unit personnel, who immediately conducted a search of Mark Kevin, used ropes to fight the gushing waters, but it was a barangay resident who found the boy's body.

The victim's parents, Jovelyn, 30, and Junrey, 33, wept for the death of their first-born, but was thankful for the survival of the other son. Their two children just had their lunch when they left home unnoticed.

The Potente and Rosales families are neighbors in Tzu Chi village, a relocation site just across the river intended for families that were rendered homeless during the Yolanda devastation in 2013. 

The police confirmed information that the river's water suddenly went high due to the strong rainfall that flowed from the mountain into the river earlier that day. — Contributed by Elvie R. Roa (FREEMAN)