A man who had been trapped for several days in the wreckage of his crashed truck was rescued Tuesday after being found by two fishermen in Portage, Indiana.
Fishermen Mario Garcia and his son-in-law Nivardo Delatorre were walking along Salt Creek looking for fishing holes when they spotted the wreckage and what they thought at first to be a dead body. After one of the fishermen touched the man in the truck to check whether he was alive, the man turned around and began speaking to them, Indiana State Police said in a news release.
The fishermen then called 911 for help to get the crash victim, Matthew Reum, 27, of Mishawaka, Indiana, out of the truck and to a hospital, state police said.
“I’ve never seen a relief like that,” Mr. Garcia said of Mr. Reum’s reaction to being found, according to USA Today.
Local fire departments responded and got Mr. Reum out of the 2016 Dodge Ram. In the process of getting him out, they determined that the crash had happened sometime on Dec. 20, the state police said. Mr. Reum was airlifted with life-threatening injuries.
An initial investigation found that Mr. Reum was traveling westbound on U.S. Interstate 94 when his truck left the road, missing a guardrail and driving into a ditch. The truck then overturned in Salt Creek under the bridge, pinning Mr. Reum and leaving him unable to call for help, state police said.
Authorities said that if Mr. Delatorre and Mr. Garcia had not been in the area, Mr. Reum may not have been found in time.
There had been no reports of a crash before the Dodge Ram was found, and Sgt. Glenn Fifield said state police were not aware of any missing persons reports being filed for Mr. Reum, according to USA Today.
“Quite frankly, it’s a miracle that he’s alive,” Sgt. Fifield said, USA Today reported.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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