PORTLAND, Maine (AP) The parents of a 10-year-old boy are elated that he’s recovering from a near-drowning and anguished that his 5-year-old brother remains missing.

The Sun Journal reports that at times, the atmosphere is upbeat in Maxim McFarland’s room at The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center. His mom, Helena Gagliano-McFarland, said doctors tell her he’s “defying all the odds” after being pulled unconscious from the Androscoggin River.

But there’s no hiding the parents’ distress over their younger son. Jason McFarland, the father, said two tours in Afghanistan didn’t prepare him for the last look into the eyes of Valerio before he disappeared from view on April 24.

The parents want to beef up the river search. Cpl. John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service says wardens aren’t giving up.