The man rescued by fishermen after spending a week trapped in a car wreck gave a thumbs-up from his hospital bed on Wednesday following the harrowing ordeal.
Matthew Reum, 27, was cut from the wreckage by firefighters and taken to hospital. According to police, it was a “miracle” he survived.
Two fishermen in Indiana alerted authorities after discovering the man. Mario Garcia and son-in-law Nivardo De La Torre reported finding the man, whom they initially believed to be dead, in a shallow creek beneath a bridge on Interstate-94 in Portage on Tuesday.
Mr Garcia reached inside the vehicle and touched the man, who turned and started speaking to him. The man said that he had been unable to reach his phone to call for help and did not know exactly how long he had been trapped.
“He had been there since last Wednesday, so he’s been there for a while,” Mr Garcia told NBC.
“He says he tried yelling and screaming but nobody would hear him, it was just quiet – just the sound of the water and there was nobody around.
Matthew Reum was trapped in his vehicle for six days— (Haley Traxler/ GoFundMe)
“I don’t see any way for somebody to have seen him. It was just very fortunate that we saw through the cracks of the woods, the shine of the wreck... [It was] curiosity that took us over there because then it could have been a different outcome, if we either didn’t go out or didn’t see him, but I’m just glad we did.”
A GoFundMe page set up for Mr Reum by friend Haley Traxler on Wednesday raised over $40,000 in 24 hours. Mr Reum had multiple broken bones and amputation is “more than likely” due to having his legs trapped for so long, according to the site.
“He is alive and that’s what we care about most through this hard time he needs all the love and support he can get. He is the most kind hearted human I’ve ever met would do anything for you even if he barely knew you or at all,” Ms Traxler said.
According to Sergeant Glen Fifield, a regional spokesperson for the Indiana State Police, firefighters spent “quite a bit of time” extricating the man from the vehicle, and he had multiple injuries including a broken hand.
Fisherman Mario Garcia (L) and his son-in-law Nivardo De La Torre (R), discovered a man trapped in a wrecked car days after he crashed— (NBC News)
“He was flown to South Bend Memorial Hospital by Lutheran air and that’s where he’s receiving treatment at this moment. I don’t have his identity. That’s part of the investigation,” Mr Fifield.
“Obviously our first main concern is getting him help getting him to a hospital for treatment due to the nature of his injuries.”
Authorities believe the man was traveling westbound on I-94 near mile marker 19 when the vehicle went off the road for reasons not yet known.
“His vehicle missed that guardrail, so he’s driving on the grass shoulder before he goes airborne,” Mr Fifield said. “His vehicle goes down into the creek, where he rolls several times. It rolled underneath the bridge.”
He added: “Quite frankly, it’s a miracle that he’s alive in this weather. We’ve been lucky enough here this Christmas season that our temperatures have been above normal, so that was working in this individual’s favor.
“You know, last year we had freezing cold and we could have had very different circumstances.”
