While the students and faculty at Pacific Union College in Angwin are still coping with the recent death of four young students, they have also shifted their focus to helping a man who survived the horrific crash.

Around 11:45 p.m. on Nov. 16, PUC students Boaz Pak, 20, Luke Nishikawa, 22, Simon Son, 19, and Chong Shin, 20, were killed when the Honda they were riding in skidded off the pavement at Deer Park Road near Sanitarium Road. Their car crashed into an oncoming pickup driven by Sandanio Martinez, 28, of Angwin.

Martinez suffered major injuries, including two broken legs and several broken ribs, according to the California Highway Patrol. He was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Martinez, whose wife works at one of PUC’s girls dormitories, owns a landscaping business and has many customers in Angwin and St. Helena.

He is home recovering, but it is uncertain when he will be able to return to work, according to Tim Mitchell, PUC college church senior pastor.

He is expected to be in a wheelchair for two months.

The college and Seventh-day Adventist church on campus have raised money to help the Martinez family. Last week college administrators delivered two checks for $2,500 to the family, Mitchell said.

“Our TLC class, which is one of our Saturday morning adult groups, pledged another $1,000, and our Community Thrift Shop gave $500,” Mitchell said. “People have been donating online. We expect the donations to continue for some time.”

At the same time, St. Helena Catholic Church is also collecting money to help the family, Msgr. John Brenkle said.

Brenkle said donations started pouring in for the Martinez family after a notice about the family trust fund appeared in the St. Helena Star.

So far, $1,200 has been donated through the church.

“The Martinez family is not registered in our church, but many people in our parish know Mr. Martinez because he does landscaping for them,” Brenkle said.

The night of the accident the four young men got into Pak’s Honda Civic and headed down Deer Park Road from the college to the Safeway store in St. Helena to grab a bite to eat. They had just finished a basketball game.

They were nearly at the bottom of the hill where Deer Park meets Highway 29 when the accident happened.

A memorial for the students was held on Nov. 20 at the PUC church.

To donate, mail checks to Pacific Union College, Julio Martinez Fund, P.O. Box 297, Angwin 94508.