WNDU
PORTER COUNTY — A Mishawaka man who had been trapped for six days after crashing his truck in northwest Indiana was found alive by two good Samaritans on Tuesday afternoon.
According to police, the Porter County Dispatch Center received a 911 call around 3:45 p.m. CST about a crash on I-94 at the Salt Creek overpass, which is approximately one mile east of the Portage exit. Two local fishermen were reportedly walking along Salt Creek, scouting for fishing holes when they spotted what appeared to be a crashed truck.
Out of curiosity, they made their way to the truck and observed what they thought was a dead person. However, when one of the fishermen touched the driver, who has been identified as 27-year-old Matthew Reum of Mishawaka, he turned his head and began to speak to them, according to Indiana State Police.
“We were getting to the fishing hole, and the truck caught our curiosity,” said Mario Garcia, one of the good Samaritans, during a press conference Tuesday night. “We went up to it and looked inside and moved the airbag and there was a body in there. I went to touch it, and he turned around. It almost killed me because it was so shocking.”
Garcia and Nivardo De La Torre, the other good Samaritan, immediately called 911 and requested help.
Police say it was a lengthy process to free Reum from the truck. According to NBC Chicago, the regular traffic lanes of I-94 were closed for several hours while crews worked to free him.
After Reum was freed, he was flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend with severe and potentially life-threatening injuries.
“It’s going to take some time to heal,” said Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield. “Our thoughts are with him.”
While Reum was being freed from the truck, police determined the crash more than likely happened six days ago last Wednesday, Dec. 20.
According to police, Reum was traveling westbound on I-94 when his truck left the roadway and drove into a ditch, missing a protective guardrail. The truck then overturned into the creek, coming to a rest under the I-94 bridge — unable to be seen from the roadway.
Reum was pinned inside of the vehicle and was unable to reach his phone to call for help. Had it not been for the two fisherman that were walking the creek on Tuesday afternoon, police say this incident more than likely would have had a different outcome, as there had not been any prior reports of a crash in this area.
“He said to me that he had been there for a long time, and that he had almost lost all hope,” Garcia said. “One more day, and something would have been very different for him.”
Indiana State Police say the will to survive this crash was nothing short of extraordinary. They say Reum was able to drink rain water for hydration in order to survive for such a long period of time while being exposed to the elements.
“It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” Sgt. Fifield said. “We’ve been lucky enough in this Christmas season that our temperatures have been above normal. That was working in this individual’s favor.”
