The day after Christmas, the two men had ventured out to a creek in northwest Indiana to look for potential fishing spots when they noticed something sparkling far away.
Nivardo Delatorre, Mario Garcia’s son-in-law, and Mario Garcia were prepared to end the day. However, curiosity won out. They proceeded to investigate.
Garcia would later describe that on Tuesday, they walked closer and closer to the shiny object, which was located beneath the Interstate 94 bridge. At last, it began to take shape:
The father-in-law reported that the fishermen approached even closer, approaching the driver’s door. By reaching into the cabin and pushing aside an airbag, Garcia was able to glimpse something that Delatorre and he had not been able to see from back at Salt Creek: a person seated in the driver’s seat.
Garcia figured the man was dead.
He then put his hand on the man’s shoulder.
“He turned around,” Garcia remarked. “He became conscious.”
Taken aback, Garcia requested his son-in-law to call for assistance.
The two fisherman would soon be involved in a rescue operation that had been planned for almost a week. The pinned driver had started to consider it almost impossible, but in the end, a seasoned public worker would characterize the endeavor as a “miracle,” coining a watchword for this enchanted season.
“Excellent, nothing less.”
The fishermen were informed by Matthew R. Reum, 27, of Mishawaka, who was driving the crushed truck, that he had been stuck there since Wednesday, December 20, when he was firmly locked in his seat beneath the bridge near Portage. Garcia recalled this information later during a state police press conference.
However, Reum, a welder and a “very good asset to his trade,” as his union colleague would later describe him, was unable to move about inside the altered car to get to his phone.
Garcia remembered the man telling him, “He tried screaming and yelling, but nobody would hear him.” “There was nothing but the sound of the water.”
The driver, who was left alone and imprisoned, survived the six-day experience in part by consuming rainwater, according to a news release from state police.
According to the authorities, “the will to survive this crash was nothing short of extraordinary.”
Porter County had experienced a low of 29 degrees Fahrenheit in the past few days.
At the press conference, Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield remarked, “It’s a miracle that he’s alive in this weather.” He also mentioned that Reum may have been stuck for a week and that he may have sustained some “severe, potentially life-threatening injuries.”
Nevertheless, Garcia claimed the driver informed him that Reum “had almost lost all hope because nobody was there” by the time he and Delatorre located him.
Reum praised the men several times while they waited for expert rescuers, and Garcia recounted, “He was alive and he was very happy to see us.”
“It’s the most relief I’ve ever seen.”
Even getting equipment to the wreckage site proved to be challenging when the rescue responders finally arrived, according to Fifield. Additionally, when workers attempted to extricate the driver and bring him to a helicopter on Tuesday afternoon, the westbound lanes of I-94 at mile marker 20 had to be closed.
Reum soon arrived at a hospital, according to authorities, hours later.
Maybe a few surgeries along the way to recovery
The liberated welder has “always been a positive, kind, and energetic person,” according to a statement from Brad Sievers of Boilermakers Local 374
Reum’s eight-year union local claims that he now has shattered bones and injuries to his legs that may need surgery. A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist with his medical expenses and recuperation.
According to a statement from Beacon Health System, he was in serious condition at Memorial Hospital of South Bend on Wednesday morning.
Reum “wants to thank everyone for the outpouring of support and all the well wishes, including the good Samaritans who found him, the first responders, and his caregivers at Memorial Hospital,” according to a statement issued on his behalf.
Reum has requested “time to rest and heal, as well as time to process everything that he has gone through since last Wednesday.” The statement added, “Matt knows he has a story to tell, and he plans to share details of that experience when he is ready.”
Reum asserted, “No matter how bad things become, there is always hope—sometimes in the most unexpected way.
Furthermore, it’s still unclear what caused the crash.
The truck apparently flew off I-94, struck the guardrail, tumbled into the stream, and came to rest beneath the bridge.
However, police claimed that even if they had received reports of a collision, they were unable to view the debris from the bridge.
Fifield remarked, “I looked over that bridge, and you can’t see it.” “I strolled along the eastern edge of the terrain, and despite my best efforts, I was unable to spot it.”
