Matthew Reum, survivor of pickup truck crash, speaks out: ‘Thank you for revitalizing my hope in humanity’

In two often emotional videos posted late Thursday morning to Facebook, Matthew Reum humbly thanked the many people who have supported him since two fishermen found his crushed pickup truck under Interstate 94 along Salt Creek more than a week ago, and provided an update on his medical condition.

The videos are about 2.5 minutes apiece. One focuses on his gratitude for the support he’s received and the second focuses on his medical status; he had one leg partially amputated above the knee and moved to rehab Wednesday. He also is recovering from a broken hand and a broken ankle.

Reum, 27, of Mishawaka, admits there is no way he can even begin to repay all the kindness people from across the country have shown him since fishermen Nivardo De La Torre and Mario Garcia found his pickup truck underneath I-94 in Portage, where he remained for six days subsisting on rain water after the Dec. 20 crash.

After a lengthy extrication, he was transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend. After arriving at the hospital’s intensive care unit in critical condition, Reum is now in inpatient rehab in fair condition, according to a spokesperson there.

“You’ve showered me with love and shown me so much kindness. There’s not enough and there’s no way I can ever start to repay you guys or start to say thank you enough, but I’m going to try, you know, I’m going to start by saying thank you right now,” Reum said.

“Thank you for all of these blessings. Thank you for revitalizing my hope in humanity because you guys have been amazing.”

De La Torre, 31, of Portage, and his father-in-law, Garcia, 60, of Hobart, have been fishing together for 13 years and told the Post-Tribune that on Dec. 26, they decided to stick close to home and found Reum alive and trapped in his truck.

Reum graduated from an apprenticeship with Boilermaker Local 455 in Tennessee in 2015 and transferred to the Local 374 in Hobart two years ago, Brad Sievers, business manager for Local 374, has said.

Reum was a welder, among many other things, and a “very good asset to his trade,” according to Sievers.

Reum starts the first video by noting how long it’s been since he was rescued “and for that, I am beyond happy,” and adds that the only reason his voice sounds melancholy is because he’s “so tired.”

“This week and a half I have seen more love, more just random acts of kindness,” he said, thanking the many people who have donated to a GoFundMe set up by one of his friends for his benefit, which had raised more than $90,000 by Thursday afternoon.

Reum said he’s received what he calls “fan mail” from across the country from people who have seen his story on the news.

“Being able to be the beneficiary of all this, I almost feel unwarranted love,” he said. “It almost breaks my heart every time I start thinking about it.”

Had De La Torre and Garcia not been walking Salt Creek to go fishing the afternoon of Dec. 26, “this incident more than likely would have had a different outcome,” Sgt Glen Fifield, public information officer for Indiana State Police’s Lowell Post, said in a release after Reum was found.

There had not been any prior reports of a crash in the area before the fishermen finding the vehicle.

“The will to survive this crash was nothing short of extraordinary as it was also determined that Mr. Reum was able to drink rain water for hydration to survive for such a long period of time while exposed to the elements,” Fifield said.

During the second video, Reum said doctors believe the surgery on his leg went well and he’s healing enough “to where I can start working on getting back into society, so I’m now walker-bound and I have a wheelchair.

“And I’m able to get around, which is amazing because I never thought that at 27, I’d have to start worrying about how do I get around.”

That includes figuring out the best way to get into bed and go to the bathroom.

“There are so many things we take for granted in life and now I can’t take it for granted. I have to think about, OK, this is when I get into my truck, this is how I have to do it, and this is how I have to get in my bed,” he said. “Now this is how I have to live life.”

Despite the challenges, Reum said there is “so much you guys have taken the burden off of in terms of moving forward.”

He plans on getting a new apartment that’s wheelchair accessible.

“If I didn’t have this huge support group I have from you guys, it would be almost impossible, but I’m looking right now and I can do it. I can start looking once I get discharged and I can get into an apartment within a month. And I can get new furniture that’s going to help me live my life better.”

His voice nearly breaking, Reum said he never could do all of it without the support he received.

“I cannot tell you how thankful I am about that,” he said.

Doctors are talking about when they plan to discharge Reum from rehab, he said, something that’s going to be “a whole nother adventure.”

“Now I’m not going to have a cushioned place to fall when I fall from trying something new. Now it’s going to be a painful fall but I still cannot say this enough — you guys have all been so wonderful, and thank you.”

alavalley@chicagotribune.com