Turfaholic;c-9964843 said:
Angeles1son85;c-9964838 said:
HOUSTON — Clinging to a tree branch with the bayou currents rushing around him, Sammy Saldivar watched helplessly as the van carrying his parents and four great-nieces and great-nephews bobbed in the water.
"He could hear the kids screaming and crying, trying to get out of the van," Saldivar's brother, Ricardo, told NBC News on Tuesday.
"He said, 'Climb to the top, go out the back door,'" he said. "But [with] the van pointed straight down, they couldn't climb up the van, much less open the door.
"He just seen the van go under the water.
the interview he did right now on erin burnett was heart breaking man
I would've went out trying to save em. No way I would want to live with myself after that.
Danny Saldivar asked his brother Sammy to get the keys to his van and move their elderly parents, 84-year-old Manuel and 81-year-old Belia, both Alzheimer's patients, to dry ground.
Manuel and Bella Saldivar. Virginia Saldivar
He also suggested that Sammy stop by the house across the street and collect Manuel and Belia's great-grandchildren: Devy, 15-year-old Dominic, 8-year-old Xavier and 6-year-old Daisy.
The plan was to drive them all to Ricardo's house, which meant crossing a bridge over the swollen bayou. Sammy told his family that Manuel told him to just forge ahead, so he drove over.
"When he got across, the road dipped down and the current swept the van to the right and put it in the bayou," Ricardo said.
"Sammy told me he panicked and he got scared. Him and mom and dad were under water already," he said. "He squeezed out [of] his belt...he just squeezed out a halfway open window and grabbed onto a branch and that's what saved his life."
Sammy, his brother said, wanted to dive in and "do something" but he knew if he let go of the tree, he'd be swept to his death by the currents.
"He just hung on and kept screaming for help," Ricardo said.
