An Indiana man, six days after crashing his truck and being left stranded, has shared his heartfelt thanks to supporters from the confines of his hospital bed. Matt Reum, who faced the grim fate of lying trapped beneath the wreckage of his pickup truck, credits the kindness of strangers with revitalizing his hope in humanity, according to a video he posted.
Speaking from Memorial Hospital in South Bend, where he is currently receiving rehabilitation treatment, Reum, 27, recounted the harrowing ordeal that led to the loss of his leg and sustained injuries to his hand and ankle. He expressed his profound gratitude in his recovery journey, despite the severe turn life had taken for him. "You guys have made something that would be so hard for a normal person to go through, and you have showered me with love," Reum said in a statement obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. "And you have showed me so much kindness. There is no way I can ever start to repay you guys or say thank you enough. But I’m going to try."
Reum's mishap began when his truck veered off Interstate 94 near Portage, plunging into a ravine and coming to rest under a bridge, hidden from view. Unable to reach his phone, the young man's survival depended on the rainwater he collected until he was discovered by a pair of fishermen. According to an NBC Chicago interview, Reum was spotted by the fishermen who happened upon the truck out of both curiosity and chance.
Now in the throes of a slow but determined recovery, Reum has seen his hospital condition upgraded to fair. His spirits lifted by the support flooding in from all corners of the country, Reum told NBC Chicago, "I have had people reach out from California, Connecticut, Minnesota, to Washington, to Fort Lauderdale." He is making plans for greater independence, including moving to a new, wheelchair-friendly apartment—a task made significantly less daunting by the generosity of others. A GoFundMe set up to assist with his medical costs has garnered over $93,000 toward a $100,000 target.
