Body camera video released of Porter County, Indiana rescue of man stuck for days under I-94
Matt Reum reunited Monday with good Samaritans who found him
PORTER COUNTY, Ind. (WLS) -- Body camera video of the rescue of a man stuck under an Indiana bridge for days has been released, and the good Samaritans who found him had a chance to see him again Monday.
Matt Reum of Indiana was pinned inside his truck for six days, until two men saved his life.
They said they got a chance to speak with him for the first time Monday, since the accident.
Body camera shows Mario Garcia saying, "I'm Mario; I'm the one that found him."
On Monday, he said, "I was in shock at first, but right away that sends you into another different mode."
Garcia and his friend, Nivardo Delatorre, said they were out for a walk on their way to Bass Pro Shops in Portage, Indiana when they saw a crashed truck under an Interstate 94 bridge in Porter County.
In the body camera video, someone can be heard saying, "that guardrail, it looks like there's a piece of his tire, and he, he rolled over."
It took multiple firefighters and police officers to pull Reum and his truck out.
Garcia and Delatorre said they stayed on the scene until he was taken to the hospital, and, now, nearly two weeks later, Reum is still at the hospital, but alive and recovering.
"A little bit overwhelming because, I mean, I haven't seen him since the accident, and seeing him in good spirits. Kind of, you know, it was pretty nice," Delatorre said.
They said helping him was just human instinct.
"If we see somebody in distress like that, as a human being, that's an instinct that we have. And this would be a better place if we all loved each other," Garcia said.
That love gave Reum a second chance, as he learns to walk again after having part of his leg amputated.
"When you just came out of a situation where you're going to survive and live, yeah, that becomes secondary. You're very glad that you're alive, and now let's make the best of what we got now," Garcia said.
The good Samaritans said they made a new friend in Reum and want to give the world a little more hope.
"There's still good people out there," Delatorre said.
