Driver who was trapped for days in a mangled vehicle before his rescue has his leg amputated
A driver who was stuck for days in a mangled car in Indiana before a man and his father-in-law found him had to have his leg amputated Wednesday.
Matt Reum’s leg was amputated from the midshin down, and he is in intensive care, a spokesperson for the Boilermakers Local 374 union, of which Reum, 27, is a member, said in a statement.
His condition was upgraded to "serious" on Thursday, a spokesperson for Beacon Health System said. He had been listed in critical condition Wednesday.
Beacon Health System said in a Wednesday statement that Reum thanked people for their support, including the good Samaritan's who found him, and his caregivers.
"Matt knows he has a story to tell, and when he is ready, he plans to share details of that experience," it said. Reum asked for time to process, rest and heal, as well as privacy for himself and his family.
“No matter how tough things get, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes in the least expected way,” Reum said, according to the statement.
The man and his father-in-law who found Reum inside the wreckage of his car were scouting fishing holes, authorities in Indiana said Tuesday. They discovered Reum, who they initially thought to be dead, in a shallow creek beneath an Interstate 94 bridge in the city of Portage.
Reum, unclear how long he had been trapped there, had multiple visible injuries, including a broken hand, Mario Garcia and son-in-law Nivardo De La Torre said.
He was rushed by helicopter to a hospital, where the injuries were assessed as life-threatening, said Sgt. Glen Fifield, a regional spokesperson for the Indiana State Police.
Fifield estimated at a news conference Tuesday that Reum could have been at the site for nearly a week because the area is out of view of the interstate. He added that no accident reports in the area had been filed in recent days.
It's unclear how Reum ended up there or how he survived. Fifield said it's also not clear whether he was able to access food or water.
The mild Indiana weather this week also could have contributed to Reum's survival. While temperatures this time last year reached freezing, the highs of 58 degrees and lows in the 40s are warmer than normal, Fifield said.
“Quite frankly,” he said, “it’s a miracle he’s alive.”
It took rescuers from the Portage and Burns Harbor fire departments hours to free Reum from the car because of the intensity of the wreckage and the difficult location, Fifield said Tuesday.
Authorities think Reum was driving westbound on I-94 near mile marker 19 when the vehicle went off the roadway for unknown reasons.
“His vehicle missed that guardrail, so he’s driving on the grass shoulder before he goes airborne,” Fifield said. “His vehicle goes down into the creek, where he rolls several times. It rolled underneath the bridge.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
