Sam Ray from Tennessee was underneath the truck carrying out routine repairs when the 1998 Dodge Dakota truck, propped up by a jack, collapsed and pinned Mr Ray fast to the ground. His left hand was pinned under the truck and then with his free right hand — holding the spanner — he was able to scream for help and bang the tool on the side of the truck. Unfortunately, nobody heard his cries for help and the 5,000 lb vehicle was slowly crushing his ribs.
Mr Ray’s life was slipping away and he even remembered praying. But there was little hope as he was several yards away from any road and well out of earshot of the nearest neighbours. As he prayed for a miracle, he heard the tones of Siri’s eloquent voice speaking to him from his butt pocket.
Siri is a built-in intelligent personal assistant that is used on the iPhone 4S and all later models. It listens and speaks naturally back to the user, helping to operate the apps and basic commands on the phone.
Remembering his iPhone was in his back pocket — but unable to use his hands to use the phone, he managed to butt-dial the emergency services and scream for help. Christina Lee was the emergency services dispatcher who took the call but was convinced at first it was just another inadvertent pocket dial.
Ray was eventually released by firefighters after the dispatcher had geo-located Sam’s iPhone signal. He had been stuck under the vehicle for 40 minutes and suffered broken ribs, burns, kidney damage and concussion.
Mr Ray is now thanking his lucky stars, God and Siri. He said, “I guess I’m stuck with an iPhone for the rest of my life, I owe them that.”
