A B.C. man was shot in the leg in Mazatlan, Mexico, as he tried to protect his wife after gunfire broke out at a market they were visiting.

Mike DiLorenzo, 69, of Penticton, underwent surgery for the gunshot wound. He is recovering in hospital after a metal plate was inserted in his leg, which was shattered above the knee. His wife, Serafina, was not injured in the attack this week.

In an interview with CBC News from his hospital bed in Mazatlan, DiLorenzo said, "I push her down because I knew it was the right thing to do ... I [don't] consider myself a hero. It is just what I do."

The DiLorenzos have been married for 40 years.

DiLorenzo said that after he pushed his wife to the ground, he fell on top of her, and initially didn't realize he had been shot.

"I start to feel pain and I started to scream as much as I can in Spanish," he said.

Speaking from Coquitlam, B.C., daughter Kathy DiLorenzo said her parents were on their annual Mexican vacation when the shooting erupted.

"My dad said he was about 50 feet away from the market, four blocks away from the hotel that they were at, when he heard the gunfire," she told CBC News.

A group of masked men fired as many as 50 shots from automatic weapons. Their target is believed to have been a 25-year-old Mexican man who was passing on a motorcycle. The man, who was thought to be involved in the drug trade, died from gunshot wounds.

Mexico has been plagued by gang violence, prompting the Canadian government to issue a travel warning for the country.

Some Canadian travel agents are also cautioning tourists to avoid some western areas of Mexico, including Mazatlan, or to visit another country for a sun vacation.