Modesto man meets truck driver who saved him

When Martin Perez climbed the fence on Modesto’s L Street bridge above Highway 99 last month, he had Stephen Rodriguez’s big rig in his sights. He intended to land in its path and end his life.

Rodriguez, a truck driver for Save Mart and a minister, said God had a different plan.

He said nothing was normal about that morning on Jan. 7. He wasn’t feeling well and considered staying home but something compelled him to go to work, where he was diverted from his usual route to the Bay Area to do a pickup in south Modesto.

He was traveling south on the highway just before 6 a.m. when saw Perez fall from above and land in front of him.

“(God) had you fall in my path; literally, you landed in front of my path,” Rodriguez told Perez on Saturday when the two met for the first time since Rodriguez was released from the hospital.

Perez’s voice faltered, he wiped tears from his eyes as he thanked Rodriguez for saving his life.

“I tried to keep my feelings in and now it feels good to be able to shed a tear,” he said. “I know if I was dead I wouldn’t be able to express my feelings and show people that I do have love.”

Rodriguez narrowly avoided hitting Perez. He swerved into the neighboring lane then stopped and backed up to get to Perez, his reverse lights warning approaching drivers to move out of the way.

Rodriguez used a flashlight to continue to direct vehicles in the dark until he saw Perez moving trying to crawl into traffic. He grabbed him by the arm and the collar of his shirt and dragged him off the road.

“I just remember jumping,” Perez said. “I don’t remember really thinking about anything, what the consequences would be or even thinking I would be alive; I thought for sure I would be dead. ...

“I was being real selfish and just thinking of my own feelings and it kind of hurts for me to know that I wasn’t caring about anybody else like all the people on the freeway who could have got hurt.”

Perez said he and his wife, Hellina Perez, lost custody of both their children, a 3-year-old daughter and 16-month old son due to their drug and alcohol addictions.

They both went into a rehab program shortly after their son’s birth in 2014 and have since been sober.

He said this was weighing on him the night he jumped. Perez thought that without him, his family might have a better chance and his wife could remarry someone who could better provide for her.

Perez said he understands now that his death would only have hurt his family. He said he didn’t realize how many people cared about him until they were all by his side in the hospital where he was being treated for a broken leg and arm, a fractured pelvis and ribs and a punctured lung after the nearly 30-foot fall.

Rodriguez went to the hospital to visit Perez shorty after the incident but Perez was highly medicated at the time and doesn’t remember.

On Saturday, the two met again at Perez’s sister's home, where he and Hellina are staying. They shook hands, and their wives hugged as they recounted the story and what could have happened to both of them.

Rodriguez offered to sponsor Perez in a curriculum he taught at The House in Modesto and now is starting at a church in Manteca called Majoring in Men. He wants to help Perez stay clean and work on other aspects of his life.

Perez said he would consider it, and the two agreed to stay in touch.

“Thank you for everything you did for me,” Perez said. “I really appreciate it because it has given me a second chance to realize what really is of value.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Modesto man meets truck driver who saved him."