SAN BERNARDINO, California – The saddest story I’ve ever written was penned in this city more than 20 years ago, when mudslides washed away Christmas day campers, leaving 14 dead, mostly Guatemalan family members.
A massive, deadly wildfire set by an arsonist ravaged the San Bernardino mountains in October 2003, and when heavy rains struck on Christmas, destructive debris flew from loosened boulders and sent fallen trees crashing down upon the St. Sophia Camp and KOA campground in Waterman Canyon.
Rushing away from my own children at our family dinner while working as a Los Angeles Times Metro reporter, I’ll forever be haunted by the anguished faces of the desperate nurses at St. Bernardine Medical Center who worked in vain to resuscitate victims and treat the others’ substantial injuries.
Among the dead were several children, including 11-year-old Edgar David Meza, who remained missing until searchers scouring through debris found his body in April 2004.
The force of that mudslide was illustrated by the fact Meza was located 15 miles from the campsite.
As a symbol of never wanting to forget the victims, then-San Bernardino County Coroner Rocky Shaw kept a hopeful photo of the smiling boy on his desk until the day his body was discovered.
I don’t know why that horrific evening came upon me this week, but when Guatemala’s joyful and unbeaten super middleweight Lester Martinez spoke about one day becoming his country’s first world champion, maybe I hoped that someone once so pained by the long-ago San Bernardino tragedy could attend Martinez’s attempt to shower such happiness upon the same city and people.
Saturday night, in the main event of ProBoxTV’s card at San Bernardino’s National Orange Show convention center, a sellout crowd of 3,500 is expected to root heartily for Martinez, 19-0-1 (13 KOs), as he seeks the vacant WBC interim super-middleweight belt versus Virginia’s Immanuwel Aleem, 22-3-3 (14 KOs).
Guatemala cultural experts who attended this week’s Los Angeles news conference for the bout said there are 1.5 million Guatemalans living in the greater L.A. region, with a hearty pocket residing in the Inland Empire portion where San Bernardino exists.
Told of the mudslide tragedy that claimed so many members of the country he adores, Martinez gulped and paused, saying he was “emotional.”
Can the joy of sport help heal from such a dark event?
“That’s a tough question,” Martinez said. “I had never heard that story. It’s a story nobody would like to go through.
“But I hope those families have found some peace over time. I’d like to tell each of those families how sorry I am for what happened. The reason why I’m fighting… the reason why I’ll give it my best on March 21, is because I want to dedicate this fight to all those people who are no longer around, and all those people that were with me from the beginning.”
Martinez can provide a valued lift to his countrymen, said Walter Rosales, who is heading the “El Chapin” festival in Los Angeles that is scheduled to feature a Martinez bout in late August – two weeks before his possible next opponent emerges from the Christian Mbilli-Canelo Alvarez WBC full title fight in Saudi Arabia.
“Very impressed with Lester… he’s come to our festival for the last three to four years, and he is so committed to lifting the name of Guatemala to the top,” Rosales said.
Rosales praised his people for their humble nature, diligent service and loyalty while building a better life for themselves here – as Martinez, 30, has done.
“He’s a really good guy who loves all the people,” Rosales said. “All of Guatemala are hard workers, with family as our root. We have brought Los Angeles business, labor and the spirit of wanting to put the U.S. on top, with Guatemalans standing next to them.”
Martinez spoke both from the human position of knowing anyone could have been like Edgar David Meza and the others found in the unfortunate position of Christmas, 2003, and from the prominent place where he can inspire such a long-deserved sense of accomplishment to the masses who are like him.
“On March 21, I will show all of those Guatemalan people that I will be the first world champion in the history of my country,” Martinez said. “And to all those people looking from above, I’m dedicating this fight to them, as well.”
