It is a difficult choice.
It is the choice no parent – or spouse – should ever have to make.
When New Zealand woman Vanessa Horton crashed her car into a river near the family home, her husband had to make the excruciating choice between saving her or resucing his son, who was trapped in the sinking car.
Silva Horton, 13, drowned in the Whanganui River, on Saturday night after the car, in which he was a front-seat passenger, came off the road and cartwheeled down a steep 32 foot (10 metre) bank into the water.
His father Stacy arrived from their nearby home in whanganui, on North Island, less than two minutes after the crash to hear his wife screaming in the darkness and the family Mazda stationwagon submerged nose down three feet under the surface.
As his wife floundered in the water, Mr Horton tried to dive down to the car to rescue his son, but said he could not reach the teenager.
“I tried to get down and get him but I couldn’t, it was just too deep. And Vanessa was going under,” Mr Horton told the Dominion Post newspaper.
“I made a call to pull my wife to safety. I looked back and I could see the tail-lights but it was too far and I couldn’t get him,” he said.
“I just had to accept the fact that he had gone.
“Instead of going down and risking my life as well as my wife and son’s, I chose to take V back and sat on the shore praying. It was all I could do,” he added.
Emergency services arrived within minutes of the crash but police divers and firefighters using breathing apparatus also failed to reach the dying boy.
Whanganui senior station officer Gary Wilson said the water was dark and murky and the firefighters struggled to reach the car.
“We tried everything but to no avail,” said Mr Wilson. “It was a longshot but it was worth the risk to try and save him.”
Mr Horton said the family had been at home when they heard a group of children vandalising their letterbox.
The group ran off and his wife, Silva and Silva’s friend Robert followed them in the car.
As Mrs Horton slowly pulled over to talk to the group as they stood by the river bank, the car “kept going” on the grass.
“I do know my son was unconscious when he drowned [after hitting his head on the dash]. It’s just a freak accident. We can’t blame anyone,” said Mr Horton.
“My wife is emotionally distraught and drained, like I am.”
Divers recovered Silva’s body early on Sunday. His friend Robert had managed to scramble up the bank to safety as the car sank.
Police said alcohol and speed were not factors in the accident and it was thought the stationwagon slid on wet grass as it slowed down.