An Indiana man was rescued by two Good Samaritans who happened upon his wrecked vehicle on Tuesday after he had been trapped inside for nearly a week.
Nivardo Delatorre and his father-in-law Mario Garcia were fishing along Salt Creek in Portage when they noticed a truck underneath an Interstate 94 overpass, reports Fox News.
Upon approaching the wrecked vehicle, they initially believed the person they saw inside was dead until one of the fishermen reached out to touch the body.
“I went to touch it, and he turned around,” Garcia told reporters. “And it almost killed me there because it was kind of shocking.”
The driver told them that he had been paralyzed after his truck slid off the highway, and he had been stranded since December 20.
“He was alive, and he was very happy to see us — I’ve never seen a relief like that,” Garcia continued. “He says that he tried yelling and screaming, but nobody would hear him. It just was quiet, just the sound of the water.”
The father and son-in-law pair then called 911, and first responders arrived at the scene around 3:45 p.m.
The wounded driver, identified as 27-year-old Matthew Reum, was heading westbound when his 2016 Dodge Ram veered off I-94 for “unknown reasons,” Indiana State Police said in a press release.
“The Portage Fire Department and Burns Harbor Fire Department both responded and after a lengthy extrication process, were able to remove the driver from the vehicle,” police said.
After being removed from the truck, Reum was flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend for his treatment of severe, life-threatening injuries.
“Had it not been for the two individuals that were walking the creek this afternoon, this incident more than likely would have had a different outcome,” police announced.
There had not been any prior reports of a crash before the fishermen came across the vehicle under the bridge.
Police stated that the “will to survive” was “nothing short of extraordinary,” as they determined that Reum was able to drink rainwater to survive for such a long time while being exposed to the winter elements.
Reum had also not been reported missing the week before he was found.
“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, as you all know, above normal. So, that was working in this individual’s favor. Last year, we had freezing cold,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield told reporters.
Reum had to have part of his leg amputated due to his injuries, and he remains in the intensive care unit, reports ABC7.