Wife of 47-year-old man who survived trench collapse in NW Harris County speaking out

Man recovering after being rescued from trench

A wife is speaking out after her husband was rescued from a trench collapse while at work.

HARRIS CO, TX - Maria Garcia is speaking out nearly one week after her husband was rescued from a trench collapse while at work. 

The trench collapse happened along the 1700 block of Telge Street near Grant Road in Northwest Harris County, which left 47-year-old Martin Oliva buried about 12 feet deep. 

Maria Garcia said he was severely injured, but here is what we know from that day.

The backstory:

On Tuesday, the Tomball Fire Department was called to the 17000 block of Telge where Oliva was digging a trench that was unsecured, and it collapsed. The project was part of an expansion for The Word Church. Tomball fire called in CyFair Fire Department's Trench Rescue to help get him out, and he was taken to Memorial Herman in The Woodlands. 

What they're saying:

Garcia said her husband told her he was awake from when the dirt fell to when he was taken to the hospital. 

She said his injuries are severe, and it'll be months before he walks again. 

"He’s been there for over 20 years, so he's never gotten a single scratch. But that day, I don’t know what happened," said Garcia." He was in a lot of pain, he couldn't get any pain medicine. His blood pressure was low. He was screaming."

Garcia says she got the call from his company that he was hurt, and rushed to the hospital, beating him there. 

"He had a shattered pelvis. He has a broken left wrist, he has a fracture on his back," said Garcia. "He had the wrist surgery on Wednesday, he had the pelvis surgery, that was a 7-hour surgery, that was on Friday morning. So now, it’s just so, now it’s just a matter of time healing, and it’s going to be quite some time." 

Maria says she has been in the hospital with her husband since Tuesday. 

"It was very devastating for me. You know, he is a wonderful husband. He is a wonderful dad. I even ask myself why these things happen to good people. You know, why him?" said Garcia. "For example, today he woke up, and I could see he was kind of down." 

Maria says she reminds her husband that the recovery is a process, but luckily he is making progress. She tells us that he is starting to sit up in a chair now, and she is asking for more support from the community. 

"He knows what he does. He’s a very hardworking man. He loves his job, he never misses work, he’s not the type of person to call in sick," said Garcia. "Whenever he does get to come home, we are going to need to make some accommodations, because I am pretty sure he is going to come out in a wheelchair for the first couple of months. We don’t have any equipment, nothing like that."