Matt Reum, who survived 6 days in wrecked pickup truck, meets those who rescued him
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) -- Matt Reum, the Indiana man who was trapped in his wrecked pickup truck for six days after crashing in Portage, was reunited Monday with the people who helped save his life.
Reum met the fishermen who found him under Interstate 94 on Tuesday, Dec. 26 - and the firefighters and paramedics from the Portage Fire Department who rescued him.
The two fishermen – Mario Garcia and Nivardo Delatorre – had come down to the rapids of Salt Creek to find a suitable place to go fishing that Tuesday afternoon. They found Reum's smashed pickup truck, discovered he was still alive, and quickly called 911.
Reum. 27, told Garcia and Delatorre he had been stuck in the wrecked pickup truck for six days. Reum drank rainwater to survive during his six-day ordeal, and used his deployed airbag as a blanket when temperatures dropped.
Body cam video from the Portage Police Department also documents Reum's rescue from beginning to end. A Cpl. Tobey first cuts the truck's airbag away, as Reum tells Tobey how his legs are trapped under the dashboard.
"So, left leg's stuck under the A-pillar, and then right leg's stuck in between the steering rack," Reum says to Tobey, "and I can't go any further this way."
Reum is alert and calm as he talks to Tobey, who reports Reum has an elevated heart rate of 120 bpm.
In the body cam video from Cpl. Tobey that lasts an hour and 22 minutes, first responders are seen working to get Reum out using ropes and rescue equipment, while give him medical attention and IVs.
After more than an hour of maneuvering the wreck, first responders are seen completing the rescue as night falls. Reum is carried out of his crashed pickup onto a stretcher – visibly in pain – to safety.
After his rescue, Reum was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend. At the time, he was in critical condition – and officials said his injuries were "life-threatening."
Reum was still recovering at the hospital Monday. His condition has been upgraded to good condition after having part of his leg amputated.
he's now recovering at a hospital in south bend, and has been upgraded to good condition... after having part of his leg amputated.