Man Rescued After 6 Days Trapped Inside Car When Good Samaritans Spot Wreckage Under Overpass

"Quite frankly, it's a miracle that he's alive," said Sgt. Glen Fifield during a press conference on Tuesday

A man in Indiana got a belated Christmas gift when he was rescued from his wrecked car after being stuck inside for six days.

The Indiana State Police said in a press conference on Tuesday that they responded to a report of a crash at Interstate 94 at the 19-mile marker.

"Two local fishermen were scouting Salt Creek for potential fishing holes when they saw a vehicle partially in the creek underneath the I-94 bridge that goes over Salt Creek," Sgt. Glen Fifield said.

"Out of curiosity, they decided to look into the vehicle, and they saw that it was occupied by one male occupant. One of the good Samaritans touched this occupant, thinking that this person was deceased and they were not," he continued. "The occupant turned their head and began speaking to our good Samaritan."

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According to Fifield, the rescued driver — who authorities identified as 27-year-old Matthew Reum of Mishawaka, Ind. — had been involved in a crash and had not been able to reach his cell phone to call for help.

Fifield said that Reum had "some severe potentially life-threatening injuries" and is currently receiving treatment after being extricated from his vehicle. He was then flown via Lutheran Air helicopter to Memorial Hospital in South Bend.

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"Quite frankly, it's a miracle that he's alive. In this weather, we've been lucky enough here this Christmas season that our temperatures have been, as you all know, above normal. So, that was working in this individual's favor. I know last year we had freezing cold and could have had very different circumstances," he added.

Reum was able to survive by drinking rain water, a press release from the Indiana State Police noted.

During the press conference, Mario Garcia, one of the fishermen who found the man, said that "he mentioned he had been there since last Wednesday" and tried "yelling and screaming, but nobody would hear him."

"It almost killed me there because it was so shocking. He was alive and very happy to see us," added Garcia, noting that "he had some scratches on him."

Nivardo Delatorre, the other fisherman, said that he "couldn't describe" the scene.

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"I just followed Mario's guide. He said, 'Get on the phone,' and I'd seen the person inside, the occupant, and my instinct was to call for help," said Delatorre.

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