According to Apple Insider, a snowboarder believes that the iPhone helped save his life, and the phone’s SOS emergency contact function put him in touch with emergency services after falling into a crack.
In March, snowboarder and personal trainer Tim Blakey was snowboarding on a glacier near Zermatt, Switzerland, when he ran into trouble on one of his descents. At about 10,000 feet, he fell into a hidden crack in the snow during the fatal solo downhill slide.
His fall was blocked 5 meters by a flimsy snow bridge, limiting his movements and movements trying to get out of the situation. According to news reports, when Tim Blakey checked his Apple iPhone for help, he saw that the phone’s battery was only 3 percent, indicating that his options for seeking help were limited.
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Faced with minimal battery, Tim Blakey remembered that he could use the iPhone’s SOS Emergency Contact feature to call emergency services, which also text the iPhone’s location to emergency contacts and emergency services.
Rescuers arrived quickly and pulled Tim Blakey out of the gap before taking him to the hospital for treatment of his injured ankle. That night, he was on time to catch a flight back to London, England.
In recounting the incident on Instagram, the snowboarder thanked the rescue team and said he didn’t know how to repay them. “Maybe the first step is to make people aware of the amazing work these guys are doing on the mountain and make other people realize not to be as careless as I was,” he said.
Tim Blakey went on to thank Apple for “their side button 5-click emergency services,” which “works especially well when your screen is constantly dripping.” He also thanked cell phone operators for “providing a 3G connection with 3% remaining under the ice”.
To trigger SOS on iPhone, press and hold the side button until the SOS slider appears, then slide it over, or press and hold the side button and volume control until the countdown ends. The feature is also available on the Apple Watch and can be triggered in the same way.