In the wake of the death of Joe Martinez’s son, Paul, he found new purpose. “Otherwise, my grief would have consumed me,” he says
NEED TO KNOW
- Joe Martinez’ son, Paul, was killed in 2013 by a speeding driver while crossing a street in his hometown of Fresno, Calif.
- Determined to help make the streets of Fresno less dangerous, the 59-year-old father became a tireless advocate for safer roads in his hometown and beyond
- Fresno, according to outside analysts, is ranked as the seventh deadliest city in the nation for pedestrians
Twelve years have passed since the night Joe Martinez’s phone rang with news that every parent dreads: His 21-year-old son, Paul, had been hit by a car while crossing a street near his home in Fresno, Calif.
Less than two hours later, the father found himself standing in the emergency room at a local hospital, staring in disbelief at his son’s body, covered in a sheet.
“It looked like he was asleep,” Martinez recalls in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, “and all I wanted to do was wake him up and say, ‘Let’s go home.’ ”…