In the time it took him to graduate high school, Amarillo College freshman and former Bovina football player Fernando Martinez has been through more than most adults. From losing his mother in a car accident his freshman year to suffering a freak season-ending injury his senior year, Martinez has faced a lot of loss and adversity over the past four years.

However, his story is not just one of heartbreak. Instead, it’s one of resiliency, the love and sacrifice of a high school principal, and, of course, Texas high school football.

Martinez immigrated from Honduras as a child and originally settled in Farwell, Texas, a town of 1,363 people located on the New Mexico border in the Panhandle.

In seventh grade, Martinez moved 14 miles northeast to the town of Bovina (population 1,800) and found a community that greeted him with open arms.

“I was kind of nervous to move [to Bovina] because they were [Farwell’s] rival,” Martinez said. “But when I first moved here, there were a lot of good people that had welcoming arms. The kids here were really nice.”

His move to Bovina also coincided with his first taste of football.

“I never did get to play when I was a little kid just because I had to work; we were farmers,” Martinez said. “Once I got to seventh grade, my parents were still telling me I had to work, but I always found time for football. I was passionate about it. It was just a place I could be me.”

Martinez showed plenty of promise on the football field too. After picking up the sport in junior high, he was selected to be on Bovina’s varsity team as a freshman, contributing as an outside linebacker and slot receiver.

“The great thing about Fernando is he was really aggressive defensively,” said Bovina head coach Coby Emery, who coached Martinez from his sophomore year through his senior year. “He played hard, and he tried to do everything that we asked of him.”

However, during Martinez’s freshman season, tragedy struck. His mom lost her life in a car accident while driving to one of Martinez’s football games, leaving him without a legal guardian.

“When that happened, I was heartbroken and in denial,” Martinez said. “I was wanting to quit football at first my freshman year because I was so depressed and questioning everything.”

That’s when Bovina High School Principal Dan Castillo entered his life. Martinez said Castillo greeted him with a hug and reassured him that everything happens for a reason and that he should continue to do what he loved, play football.

And play football he did. He contributed on varsity his sophomore year before having a big year his junior year as he caught 25 passes for 335 yards as Bovina made the playoffs.

During those two years, as he found success on the field, Martinez and his sister lived with the family of one of his sister’s friends.

But in 2020, before Martinez’s senior year, Castillo began thinking about helping Martinez get his U.S. citizenship. Castillo wanted to take Martinez to the Consulate, but to do so, he had to first become Martinez’s legal guardian, a step he decided to take in April 2020.

And with the ongoing COVID pandemic slowing down the citizenship process, Castillo soon made the decision to adopt him.

“He’s always been there for me,” Martinez said. “When he talked to me about adoption, I was very happy with it. He took me in with wide open arms, and I’m very thankful for him.”

As Martinez began to settle in with Castillo, his senior year was fast approaching.

Yet again, Martinez was met with another mountain to climb.

In Week 3, with Bovina taking on Clarendon, Martinez sought to make a seemingly routine play from his outside linebacker position by chasing a Clarendon runner out of bounds. As he reached the sideline though, he got tangled in the chains, tripping and falling on his stomach. The Bovina trainers checked on him as he initially had trouble catching his breath following the play. However, it looked like everything was going to be okay.

The next day though, Martinez began experiencing pain around 5 p.m. He went to the local hospital in Friona, where doctors made the decision to fly him via helicopter to Lubbock for emergency surgery to treat a lacerated spleen. With the internal nature of the injury, no one realized just how serious it was. It was a roller coaster of emotions for Martinez.

“At first, when it happened, they said if I would have stayed at my house a little longer, I would have died because I was bleeding internally,” Martinez said. “I was very shocked and happy to be alive at that point, but at the same time, I was very upset that I missed football season.”

For Castillo, seeing Martinez suffer was a hard sight to see.

“It was a rough situation to see someone who is just full of life and so vibrant under anesthesia and can barely talk,” Castillo said. “From a parent standpoint, it was just hard to see him fresh out of surgery and not knowing exactly what was going to happen.”

Martinez didn’t let the injury hold him back for long. As soon as he was medically cleared to return to school, he rejoined his Bovina teammates on the sideline. And although he was too fresh off his injury to be able to play, he served as team captain and a mentor as the Mustangs finished 4-7 and made a run to the area round of playoffs.

And as 2020 turned to 2021, things began to look up for Martinez.

He was officially adopted by Castillo on Jan. 4, and Martinez chose to add Castillo’s last name to his, changing his legal name to Fernando Martinez Castillo.

Castillo’s generosity and sacrifice and the impact it has had on Martinez has not gone unnoticed by the community.

“It’s hard to be a parent from the get-go but to adopt a young man his senior year and have to go from zero to 100 as far as all the senior stuff, graduation and prom and helping him get into college, I just think what Dan has done is generous beyond measure,” Emery said. “He’ll be the first to tell you that he did it all out of love for Fernando.”

And as the spring sports season neared, Castillo’s determination shone through. He returned to play in the second half of the varsity basketball season, run track, and represent the powerlifting and golf teams for Bovina, a remarkable accomplishment considering the medical situation he found himself in just months earlier.

“For me, it was never a question of if he would, it was when he would overcome,” Castillo said. “Because I knew he would. That’s just the kind of person that he is. He wasn’t going to let anything hold him down.”

And as Martinez competed in those spring sports, Castillo was able to cheer him on with the pride of a father watching his son compete.

“I couldn’t ask for a better son,” Castillo said. “I would probably be spoiled just based on who he is and how he acts. He’s got work ethic. I don’t have to tell him to do anything, he just does it.”

After graduating from Bovina this past spring, Martinez is now enrolled at Amarillo College where he is completing his core classes. He says that he wants to obtain a degree in business because of the flexibility it will provide him when choosing a career post-grad.

And even after all he has been through, with the love of his principal-turned-father and the Bovina community behind him, Martinez continues to be as positive as ever, and the bond between him and Castillo only continues to grow stronger.

“I try to be positive no matter the situation,” Martinez said. “Life happens and you’ve just got to move on and accept it. My dad has been very supportive. That’s where I get it from. I try to be just like him.”