(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Matt Reum was alert and talking.
Responding firefighters had just spent about 90 minutes cutting through the metal of Reum’s wrecked truck — which the 27-year-old from northwest Indiana had crashed and rolled under Interstate 94 six days earlier — to free the trapped and badly injured driver.
Reum had been found by a man and his son-in-law, who happened upon his truck as they looked for a fishing spot. They were surprised he was alive. One said his expression was just relief.
Days after the rescue, Portage Fire Battalion Chief Chris Crail, who was the incident commander, told WBBM that Reum’s will to live was “second to none.”
Crail said Reum’s upper body was free when they found him — and he had kept a journal.
“He did have a pretty good documentation within his journal about everything that had been going on and, as the days were going on, [the] ways that he would be remembered and things that could potentially be said at his funeral,” said Crail.
Reum, who suffered broken bones and had part of a leg amputated, survived on rain water. Since his rescue, Reum has been seen in a picture in a hospital bed. He’s smiling and giving the thumbs up.
Crail said as a member of a helicopter crew took pictures to document the scene for emergency room doctors, Reum gave a thumbs up and said he wanted pictures.
He said: “I spent Christmas down here.”
When Reum was asked about pain, Crail said he replied that he wanted a Big Mac, fries and a Coke.
Despite his injuries, Crail said Reum was “in great spirits.”
The battalion chief thanked the fishermen and first responders and said he’d have more to say about the ordeal soon.
A GoFundMe has been started to help pay for Reum's medical expenses. It can be found here.
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