How this iPhone feature saved a man’s life, and how to use it
|Published
A British fitness influencer and personal trainer credited his iPhone’s emergency feature with saving his life after a recent snowboarding accident.
In a detailed Instagram post, Tim Blakely explained his ordeal of plunging through a 5-meter gap of ice while snowboarding on a Swiss mountain, in a detailed Instagram post.
In the post, Blakely shares images taken within the creek of ice he fell through. Meanwhile, his smartphone became wet from dripping ice, making it difficult to use.
However, with just 3% of his smartphone’s battery life left, Blakely used the iPhone’s Emergency SOS, which allows users to activate an emergency distress call by pressing the side button five times.
In the post, Blakely thanked Apple and his network provider for giving him a 3G signal to call for help, typically difficult to achieve in such conditions.
“The last thank you to Apple, their side button 5 click to emergency services - especially great when your screen is constantly being dripped on, and to the service provider for giving me 3G connection and 3% battery 5m below the ice,” he said.
If Blakely had not been able to signal, he believes the situation would have been more severe.
“The alternative to this has been keeping me up at night, to say the least. To walk /hobble away from this relatively unharmed & make my flight back to London that evening is quite the headf*ck. Life 2.0 starts now,” he said.
How to access SOS Emergency settings on your smartphone:
The feature is available on iPhones and sends a distress call to emergency services along with your current location.
Once activated, the signal will update your location every 10 minutes.
To ensure the feature is activated on your iPhone:
– Open the settings
– Select Emergency SOS
– Select Call with Side Button
If you do not have an iPhone and want to activate a feature like this on Android smartphones, go into settings, search “SOS”, or scroll “Passwords and Security” on most devices to find the feature.
You can also set your emergency contacts and auto-dialling with a five-button tap.
IOL WEALTH