(La Porte County, IN) - A man was seriously hurt in a motor vehicle collision near Michigan City last night.

 

At about 9 p.m., a pick-up truck hit the back end of a semi in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 94 about a mile west of the U.S. 421 exit.

 

Coolspring Township Assistant Fire Chief Warren Smith said it took about 30 minutes to remove the driver of the pick-up truck, pinned from roughly the waist down because of extensive front-end damage.

 

“The whole dash was down on top of his legs. We had to remove the doors on the driver’s side. We were able to do what we call a dash roll. We were able to get his legs freed and pull him out then,” he said.

 

Smith said the temperature at the time was about 12 degrees below zero.

 

“It was a tough extrication. We had to worry about our trucks freezing up out there. You could hardly complain about the cold weather, though, because that gentleman we were trying to get out was in a heck of a lot worse position than we were,” he said.

 

Per the assistant fire chief, the man was conscious and alert the entire time, not complaining about the effects of the bitter cold until he was nearly pulled out.

 

“He was hurt pretty bad, but I believe he will survive,” Smith said.

 

Smith noted that he believes the man suffered broken legs and other possible injuries. 

 

The man was flown to a hospital by a helicopter, which landed in the eastbound lanes very close to the crash site.

 

So far, the name of the driver and other adjacent details are not currently known.