Driver rescued on I-94 after trapped in car for several days
PORTAGE, Ind. - Fishermen discovered a man trapped in a crashed truck under the I-94 overpass Tuesday.
The Porter County Dispatch Center received a 911 call at 3:45 p.m., reporting a crash on I-94 at the Salt Creek Overpass.
Two local fishermen, Nivardo Delatorre of Portage and his father-in-law Mario Garcia of Hobart, were looking for fishing holes when they found the crashed truck under a bridge between U.S. 20 and S.R. 249, according to Indiana State Police.
Delatorre and Garcia thought the male occupant was dead, but then, he turned his head and spoke to them.
They immediately called 911 and requested help.
The Portage Fire Department and Burns Fire Department were able to remove the driver from the vehicle and determined he had likely crashed there.
A preliminary investigation shows that the driver, 27-year-old Mishawaka resident Matt Reum, was traveling westbound on I-94 in a 2016 Dodge Ram truck when the vehicle drove north into a ditch, missing a protective guardrail, and was overturned into a creek under the I-94 bridge.
He was pinned and couldn't reach his cell phone to call for help.
The investigation determined Reum was trapped in his car, since Wednesday, December 20, almost a week before being found.
He was able to drink rainwater for hydration out of sheer will to survive.
Reum was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend for severe and life-threatening injuries.
Police say it's a miracle he's alive.
A GoFundMe has been set up for Reum to cover medical bills and recovery costs.