Martinez credits his eventual return to a combination of professional psychological support and a return to his core values. Realising that quitting would be taking the "easy way out," he sought help to rebuild his mental resilience alongside his physical strength.
"You need to not take the easy way out. The easy way out is to just give up and that's it," he reflected. "But, I always say, it's in the face of adversity that you show your true character. So I reconnected with myself, I reconnected with my roots, with who I am, with my values, and I gave it my all, day after day."
The defender described his rehabilitation not as a medical process, but as a daily battle. "For me, it was day by day, a constant struggle, and my match was every day at the gym," he said. He emphasised the role of therapy in his comeback, noting that he worked with a psychologist to improve "in every aspect."
"I clung to the people around me, my family, my friends," he added.