An Oregon man survived an ordeal that could only be described as a real-life nightmare.

Mendez Perez, 23, was sleeping in a dumpster when it was picked up and emptied into a garbage truck. Perez, along with a load of cardboard, went through the truck's trash compactor several times and somehow survived, according to Oregon's Albany Democrat-Herald.

On Thursday, the newspaper reported that Perez escaped with a broken leg and was listed in "good condition" at a local hospital.

According to the Democrat-Herald, the garbage truck driver only realized Perez was in the compactor because he started throwing cardboard out of the truck as it was driving. "He got out to look and heard Mr. Perez yelling, so he contacted us," an Albany Police Department captain told the newspaper.

Trash compactor trucks can be deadly machinery. In April, a waste disposal worker in San Antonio was killed when he somehow got stuck in his truck's compactor. In February, a 49-year-old man was crushed to death by a garbage truck's trash compactor near Cleveland.

Clint Davis covers trending news topics for the Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis.