Family still lives in shadow of tragic car crash
JOHN DAY, Ore. – In an instant, Natalie Marti’s life was forever changed by a drunk driver.
Ten years later, the Meridian, Idaho, resident takes time to speak to high school students about her experiences and the tragic consequences of impaired driving.
Students in grades 9-12 from Prairie City, Grant Union (John Day) and Dayville schools, with Monument students joining in at Dayville, gathered in assemblies for her April 24 presentation, which was sponsored by Grant County Safe Communities and Oregon Department of Transportation.
Marti’s story left hardly a dry eye.
She showed a video of her husband and 5-month-old daughter playing, explaining that both were killed instantly when a drunk driver headed the wrong way on I-84 at 98 mph hit their family’s car, as they drove home to Caldwell from Boise. She was pinned in the car – which was split in half – and was in a coma for three weeks.
“I didn’t plan for this to be a part of my future,” she said.
She said the drunk driver hadn’t eaten anything all day; before the crash, he and a friend had gone to a gas station for a beer, each downing one and a half tall cans.
Jump-starting a car was the last memory he has of that day.
“He has no memory of driving 98 miles per hour and crashing into and killing my family,” she said.
“I encourage you to think of your choices – are they going to lead you to the future you want?” she added.
The drunk driver, Edgar Vasques Hernandez, had his left hand amputated as a result of the wreck and is serving a maximum 40-year prison sentence.
Marti said she’s endured a lot of pain as she recovered from many injuries, the most severe being a head injury.
“All these medical problems, all these things, I don’t care about,” she said, adding that missing her family is what hurts the most.
She said Edgar told her he felt a huge pain in his heart, asked for forgiveness and said he wished he could take away her pain.
“I don’t know how many of you think, ‘It will never happen to me,’” she said.
She added, Edgar’s response to his friend telling him to slow down was, “Don’t worry, nothing is going to happen.”
“Don’t take that chance and think it’s not going to happen to you,” she said.
Although she won’t get to play with her daughter or have her husband with her, she said, she’s found her life can still have purpose.
“That’s why I’m helping others make that choice to not drink and drive,” she said.
Prairie City senior Audra Clark said the entire senior class agreed it was one of the best presentations they’d ever seen.
“I cried like a little girl,” she said.
“It was really emotional, and it opened our eyes to the impact our choices have on other people,” she said. “It’s definitely something I will remember forever.”
This story first appeared in the Blue Mountain Eagle, John Day, Ore., and was subsequently carried by Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Published 5-10-13