Crash victim Matt Reum, who survived 6 days in crushed truck, leaves Memorial Hospital
SOUTH BEND — The Mishawaka man who survived six days trapped in his truck under an Interstate 94 bridge in late December has left Memorial Hospital after three weeks of care, hospital leadership announced Wednesday.
The hospital discharged Matt Reum, 27, on Tuesday evening, according to a statement from Beacon Health System. Reum will recover at home surrounded by family and friends while continuing outpatient physical rehabilitation at Memorial, the statement says.
The hospital system shared a short video in which Reum meets the two men who found him alone on Dec. 26 in his overturned truck in Salt Creek, which runs under an I-94 bridge in Portage. Nivardo Delatorre of Portage and his father-in-law, Mario Garcia of Hobart, found Reum six days after the Dec. 20 crash while they were searching for a good fishing hole.
The video shows Reum in a wheelchair, his left leg having been amputated above the knee, leaning over to hug both men during their visit to the hospital. Reum also suffered a broken right hand and a broken ankle in the crash.
"The six days I was down there were the longest, scariest, most terrifying days of my life, because that (sixth) day I had given up hope," Reum says in the video.
More: Mishawaka man Matt Reum speaks about leg amputation after truck crash
Reum says in the video that he had prepared an obituary and a suicide note addressed to his best friend. He had been pinned in the truck for six days, unable to reach his phone while no one responded to his screams. He says he survived by drinking rainwater.
"State troopers couldn't believe that I was alive, and the firefighters couldn't," Reum adds. "Nobody could believe that I was alive."
After the men alerted law enforcement that afternoon, a medical helicopter airlifted Reum to Memorial Hospital.
"Now it is time for me to take my next steps outside of the hospital where I will be tested, tried, and will grow even more," Reum said in a statement shared by the hospital. "I may be a little slower getting around than I was four weeks ago, but I’m still going to be moving forward toward a life I am proud of, having been given a second chance."
Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Matt Reum leaves South Bend hospital after reunion with rescuers
