Matt Reum, 27, swerved off the road to avoid a deer and careened off the highway, crashing into the river bank. For six days Reum survived by drinking rain water.
Authorities in Indiana have released bodycam footage capturing the moment a man trapped in his truck under a bridge for six days was rescued.
Matt Reum, 27, told rescuers he could not move and that he would have to be cut out.
Reum swerved off the road to avoid a deer and careened off the highway, crashing into the river bank. For six days Reum survived by drinking rain water. He screamed for help but no one could hear him with the sound of the flowing river and passing traffic above the bridge.
On the sixth day, a father and his son-in-law spotted the vehicle while looking for a fishing hole. They thought the driver had to be dead.
“I looked inside and moved the white airbag and there was a body in there and I went to touch it and he turned around and it almost killed me there because it was kind of shocking,” the father said. “He was alive and he was very happy to see us.”
First responders reported to the crash site. “I’ve never seen something like this before. Ever,” one responder could be heard saying on the bodycam footage.
Reum posted a video on social media talking about his injuries.
“I lost my leg. I have an above-the-knee amputation now. I have got an ankle that’s broken. I’ve got a hand that is broken,” Reum said.
He also posted his reunion with the men who found him.
“I have seen more love, just random acts of kindness,” Reum said. “It almost breaks my heart every time I start thinking about it.”
Reum says after a lot of physical therapy, he is able to move around with a walker or wheelchair.
