Truck Crash Rescue in Northwest Indiana

PORTAGE, Ind. (CBS) -- Two men out looking for fishing holes in Northwest Indiana came across a driver whose truck had crashed off Interstate 94 – and who said he had been stuck for nearly a week.

Two local fishermen had been scouting out Salt Creek for potential fishing holes, when they came across a mangled truck that was under the I-94 bridge and partially in the creek.

Out of curiosity, the fishermen looked into the truck and saw one man inside. One of the men touched the occupant, thinking he was dead, Fifield said.

But the man in the truck was alive – and he turned and started talking, Fifield said. He told the fishermen he had crashed days earlier, and could not reach his cellphone to call for help.

A truck driver in his late 20s was rescued after a serious accident on I-94. The driver suffered severe injuries and was trapped in the vehicle for a significant amount of time before being extricated by medics. The westbound lanes of I-94 were closed during the rescue operation. The driver was taken to a hospital in South Bend for treatment.

The accident occurred when the truck driver missed the guardrail on I-94 and went down the grass shoulder. The truck then went airborne, rolled several times, and ended up in a creek. It miraculously crossed the 30-foot wide creek and rolled under the I-94 bridge. According to authorities, the driver's survival was a miracle considering the weather conditions and the extent of the accident.

Two fishermen discovered the mangled truck and helped rescue the driver. The fishermen were on their way to a fishing hole when they stumbled upon the wrecked vehicle. Mario Garcia, one of the fishermen, initially thought the driver was dead. However, when he touched the driver, the driver turned out to be alive and began speaking.

"It almost killed me there, because it was kind of shocking," said Garcia, "but he was alive, and he was very happy to see us."

The truck driver said he had been trapped in the truck since Wednesday of last week – and had survived six days without food or water.

"He said he tried yelling and screaming, but nobody would hear him," Garcia said. "It was just the quiet sound of the water."

The truck driver did not say anything about how he survived – but Garcia noted that there was no way the driver could move.

"He had to survive to survive on his youth… and God's help there," Garcia said.

Garcia also noted that the terrain along the creek is all riprap and boulders – and he was worried one of the first responders might get hurt trying to rescue the truck driver.

Garcia noted that the site where he and Delatorre found the truck was the last site they were considering choosing to look for a fishing hole. Fifield also noted that they found the truck at 3:45 p.m. – and had the fishermen arrived half an hour later, it would have been dark out and they would not have been able to see the wrecked truck.

The fishermen said they were very glad they came across the man when they did.

"He was on the verge of completing it," Garcia mentioned. "He had only one day left, and he believed he wouldn't be able to accomplish it."