The family of 15 year-old Javan Rodney Guerra is preparing to bury him tonight after he drowned in Mopan River in Benque Vejo on Sunday afternoon. The young man, well loved by his family and friends, had just eaten his Sunday dinner, and he asked his family to go with his friends.
He didn't get their permission to go swimming, so they were blind-sided by the news of the tragedy that he barely survived going under. They tried their best to get him to the nearest hospital, but it was too late because he swallowed too much water, and there was no one trained in first aid to try to resuscitate him. He died while being transported to the hospital. 7News caught up with his grieving family today.
Here's how they explained what led to the tragedy:
Gilberto Mendez, Uncle of deceased
"My nephew jumped in the water and started to swim. The little boy from the neighbor cross the river and by the time he reach at the next side my nephew hollered 'come help me, I can't take it anymore, I am catching cramp, come help me.' The little boy turns back and got to him. My nephew held on to his shoulder but he slipped while the little boy was swimming. The little boy got tired because of the weight of my nephew. He slipped and went down into the water."
"There were big men on the bank who jumped in the water to help my nephew they took him out and they started to do chest compression, but he didn't know what he was doing. He said that he saw it on TV and was just trying to do it. If he had known first aid I think he could have saved him because my nephew had vomited. The man did his best."
Marie Robinson, teacher
"Ravi seemed to get along with most of his classmates. He was very playful and so they teased each other a lot. They had their
little rifts but for the most part they were very playful and he was also very humble. If you called his attention that he was getting too rough he would apologized."
His uncle reiterated that his parents would never let him go to swim without their supervision, and he didn't get permission to do so yesterday.
He is the oldest of 4 siblings, and preparations are being made for his burial tomorrow.
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