With their wives away, Mario Garcia and his son-in-law, Nivardo De La Torre, decided to spend some time scouting fishing spots in Indiana. What they looked forward to was a day of fun, but they ended up saving a man’s life when they stumbled upon his wrecked vehicle beneath an Interstate 94 bridge in the city of Portage. At first, they were convinced the man was dead because of the severity of his injuries, but they soon realized he was still alive despite the mangled wreckage.
Authorities believe the man, who was later identified as 27-year-old Matthew R. Reum, lost control of his vehicle while traveling westbound on Interstate 94, causing the car to veer off the road, miss a guardrail, and go airborne before landing in the creek.
The vehicle rolled over multiple times and ended up hidden from the interstate, which likely played a role in the delay of his rescue.
Reum, who was disoriented and unable to recall how long he had been trapped, was airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Rescuers from local fire departments faced significant challenges reaching the crash site due to its remote location along Salt Creek, which is surrounded by moving water and requires a hike to access.
“His vehicle missed that guardrail, so he’s driving on the grass shoulder before he goes airborne,” Sgt. Glen Fifield, a spokesperson for the Indiana State Police, said. “His vehicle goes down into the creek, where he rolls several times. It rolled underneath the bridge.”
“You could barely tell what it was,” Garcia said. “It was mangled completely.”
By the time Garcia and Delatorre found him, Reum “had almost lost all hope because nobody was there,” Garcia said the driver told him.
“He was alive and he was very happy to see us,” Garcia added. “I’ve never seen relief like that.”
The mild weather, with temperatures reaching the high 50s, helped make the discovery possible and probably contributed to Reum’s survival.
“Quite frankly, it’s a miracle that he’s alive in this weather. We’ve been lucky enough during this Christmas season – our temperatures, as you know, are above normal,” Fifield said. “So that was working in this individual’s favor.”
State police said, “The will to survive this crash was nothing short of extraordinary as it was also determined that Mr. Reum was able to drink rain water for hydration in order to survive for such a long period of time while being exposed to the elements.”
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