Stephen Watts, Bridger Woods y Jeremy Mumford are three students from Brigham Young University who share a hobby: exploring mountainous areas in Utah. The trio suffered a tense moment, with their lives at risk, when they were stranded in deep water. What saved them? An Apple iPhone 14.
Although it seems like a crude publicity, it is the great reality that these young people lived in mid-April, in the canyons of the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area.
During their canyoning time, they fell in deep and icy waters in the area. They were unable to get out for several hours, even suffering from hypothermic shock. In addition, due to the remoteness of the location, the group could not make calls.
“I went into hypothermic shock and started to panic and freeze. My teammates saw me and they were very worried,” Mumford said. to the local television channel KUTV.
Bridger Woods noted: “We got to that point where we couldn’t get him out, they couldn’t get me out either. We kept Jeremy above the rappel, hanging free on this bump, And that’s when we realized we were stuck.”
The SOS Emergency function of the Apple iPhone 14
But Watts had a iPhone 14. At some point he remembered that he had the function SOS emergency via satellite, sending text messages to authorities and sharing their location with them, Mumford said.
“The canyon was about 500 feet deep with sheer rock walls. About every 20 minutes, a satellite would line up where we were in the canyon and, by holding the phone up, we could get a signal. We would send text messages to 911 Emery County with it,” Mumford said.
A few hours later, The authorities and paramedics arrived to rescue them.
“I’ll be honest: I cried right away when I saw the helicopter there, they were like ‘hey, we see you,’” Woods said. “I just have a lot of gratitude for them and I wish I had met them under different circumstances, they all seem like amazing people, but again, just a huge, huge thank you.”
Apple’s Emergency SOS feature for iPhone14 is still limited, because it is exclusive to the line. It is expected that at some point this will multiply, beyond the company of the manzanita.
