Matt Reum released from hospital, weeks after surviving 6 days in wrecked pickup truck
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) -- Matt Reum, the Indiana man who was trapped in a wrecked pickup truck for six days and had to survive on rainwater, was discharged from the hospital this week.
Beacon Health System announced Reum, of Mishawaka, Indiana, was released from the Memorial Hospital in South Bend on Tuesday – three weeks after he was rescued along Salt Creek under an Interstate 94 bridge in Portage, Indiana on Dec. 26.
Reum will continue healing at home, and will also undergo outpatient physical rehabilitation at Memorial Hospital, Beacon Health System reported.
Reum issued the following statement:
To everyone who has been following my story,
After four weeks since my wreck, and three weeks of being in the hospital, and hours and hours of physical therapy and occupational therapy, I am finally being discharged.
To the members of the community who have supported me mentally and emotionally and have been in my corner, thank you. The support you have given me has been one of the biggest factors in my healing.
To the countless nurses and assistants who have helped feed me, bathe me and have given me medication throughout the day and night, thank you.
To the skilled doctors and everyone who played a hand in my surgeries going off without a hitch, thank you.
Finally, to my social worker and the amazing physical and occupational therapists here at Memorial Hospital, I can never thank you enough for helping me realize I am not any less of a man just because I lost my leg.
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. 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.
On Dec. 26, 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.
In body cam video from 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.
Last month, Reum met the two fishermen who found him – as well as the Portage firefighters and paramedics who came to his rescue.
"Nobody could believe that I was alive," he told Garcia in their meeting, which was recorded on video.
"Our first instinct was to get you out of there," Garcia told Reum in the video even though we're not responders - first responders - our instinct right away is to save your life."
While meeting with the first responders the same day, Reum said, "The six days I was down there were longest, scariest, most terrifying days of my life - because that day, I had given up hope."
Reum has shown tremendous resilience in his recovery – even though he lost his leg. But indeed, he also talked about how after being pinned for six days, so much ran through his mind – including giving up.
"That morning, I think I handed you my notebook, but that notebook had my obituary… because I was not planning on getting through that day. And you know, those two [the fishermen] showed up in the right place at the right time," Reum told the first responders. "There were so many miracles that led to that moment. No possible way I can ever repay you. The act of you guys showing up saved my life."
Reum was in critical condition at the time of his rescue, and his injuries were considered life-threatening. But while he did need to undergo a leg amputation, Reum's condition steadily improved in the hospital.
Indiana State Police have said Reum initially veered off the highway because he was simply trying to avoid hitting a deer.
