Police are shocked that a man was not killed after his car was crushed, twisted and dragged by a train.

Porter County Sheriff's Department officers say "it was a miracle" Kenneth Liptak Jr., not only survived the crash, but also managed to crawl out of the mangled metal and walk around Saturday morning, The Associated Press reports.

"It was a miracle. I've never seen anything like it," Sgt. Charles Douthett says in a news release.

Liptak's mother, Helen, says she was still in shock hours after hearing about the crash. She says "somebody up there" was looking out for her 30-year-old son.

Liptak, 30, who lives just north of the CSX crossing north of Valparaiso, 20 miles southeast of Gary, was heading south to work when his car was hit by the train and dragged about 200 feet.

He tells police he pulled out of his driveway and immediately saw the lights and gates activated. He tells police he saw a northbound car drive around the gates and then he looked for westbound trains, telling police the morning trains usually come from that direction.

But he says he did not look the other way.