Nivardo De La Torre and his father-in-law, Mario Garcia, have been fishing together for 13 years.
They sometimes head to the Kankakee River but Tuesday afternoon, they decided to stick closer to home and try a spot along Salt Creek.
“It was just chance,” said Garcia, 60, of Hobart. “We saw the glitter of the wreck.”
– Original Credit: Indiana State Police
The glitter was Matthew R. Reum’s crashed pickup truck. Reum, 27, of Mishawaka, Indiana, had been trapped in the truck for six days, since Dec. 20, when Indiana State Police said he went off the road and survived on rain water until he was rescued.
“We were coming down the trail to the fishing area, maybe 30 yards, and then we switched our focus to getting this guy out,” said De La Torre, 31, of Portage.
De La Torre and Garcia ultimately called 911 and Porter County Central Dispatch received the call at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday about the crash off Interstate 94 at the Salt Creek overpass one mile east of the Portage exit.
After a lengthy extrication effort by first responders with the Portage and Burns Harbor fire departments, Reum was transported by Lutheran Air to Memorial Hospital in South Bend with severe, life-threatening injuries, according to a release from Sgt. Glen Fifield, public information officer with Indiana State Police’s Lowell Post.
Wednesday morning, Reum was in the intensive care unit at the hospital after having his left leg amputated mid-shin, according to Brad Sievers, business manager for Boilermakers Local 374, who added Reum also suffered multiple broken bones.
Reum graduated from an apprenticeship with Boilermaker Local 455 in Tennessee in 2015 and transferred to the local in Hobart two years ago, Sievers said, adding Reum was a welder, among many other things, and a “very good asset to his trade.”
A preliminary investigation shows that Reum, driving a 2016 Dodge Ram truck, was westbound on I-94 when it left the roadway for unknown reasons and went into the north ditch, missing a protective guardrail, according to Fifield.
The truck overturned into the creek, coming to rest under the I-94 bridge. Reum was pinned inside the truck and was unable to call for help.
It’s not immediately clear where Reum was going at the time of the crash. De La Torre said he and Garcia were in rescue mode when they found Reum and his destination didn’t come up.
“He had messaged me earlier in the day (on Dec. 20) and asked if he could use the shop because he was going to be up here the next couple of days,” Sievers said, adding he didn’t know why Reum was going to be in the area but he travels a lot for work.
Sievers said Reum called him Tuesday night and even after his ordeal, he still had a positive attitude and talked about getting back to work because he had bills to pay. One of Reum’s friends created a GoFundMe page to help cover his medical expenses; the effort raised more than $18,000 by Wednesday afternoon.
“I said, ‘Take care, bud. It’s something they make movies about,'” Sievers 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 to survive for such a long period of time while exposed to the elements,” Fifield said in a release.
When Garcia and De La Torre found Reum’s truck, Garcia said curiosity drew them closer to the wreck because “you don’t usually see something that mangled up under the bridge.”
“I moved the air bag out of the way and there was a person there, and that’s where it all started,” he said, adding it was a “fortunate chance” that he and De La Torre were at the scene.
Reum was “asleep or something” when the two found him, Garcia said, and the fishermen didn’t think he was alive until they touched him.
“He was so glad to see us,” Garcia said.
“Just the look on his face, it was like, ‘What are you guys doing here?'” De La Torre said, adding Reum said he had been screaming for help but hadn’t seen anyone since the crash. “He was in shock just as much as we were.”
Reum told the good Samaritans that the crash occurred on Dec. 20.
“Had it not been for the two individuals that were walking the creek (Tuesday) afternoon, this incident more than likely would have had a different outcome,” Fifield said. “There had not been any prior reports of a crash in this area prior to the fishermen finding the vehicle.”
The crash, Fifield said, is a reminder of the importance of always letting someone know about travel plans, the route, and the need to always have emergency items in a vehicle.
“He was really pinned in there. Without help, we would have never gotten him out,” De La Torre said, adding he and Garcia remained at the scene for the hours long extrication. “We stayed there until they pulled him out and were able to make a path to get him to the helicopter.”
The two also called the hospital where Reum was in the ICU. He said he was thankful for their assistance in a Facebook message to Garcia’s wife.
In a statement released by Memorial Hospital, Reum, who remains in critical condition, thanked De La Torre, Garcia, in addition to the first responders and caregivers. He requested time to process his ordeal and rest and heal.
“Matt knows he has a story to tell, and when he is ready, he plans to share details of that experience. Until then, Matt has asked us to share this message, while also requesting privacy during this time for himself, his family and friends. He adds, ‘No matter how tough things get, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes in the least expected way.'” the hospital’s statement read.
Garcia and De La Torre love the outdoors and are always looking for new places to go fishing, Garcia said, yet for some reason, they decided to stay in the area to take advantage of the weather, which proved to be a benefit for Reum as well.
“Everything worked together,” Garcia said. “This is like a godsend.”