- A man driving on a remote highway in Oregon’s Cascade Mountain Range became stuck in the snow with no service.
- He connected his phone to a drone, tried to send a text, then flew it until it got reception.
- Authorities said the rescue also rescued another person who had been trapped for days.
A man whose car got stuck in the snow in a remote area of Oregon found an ingenious way to call for help even though he didn’t have cell phone service.
He was driving on a remote road in the Willamette National Forest, located in the Cascade Mountains, when he got stuck, according to Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.
“To make her situation worse, her family was out of the country and no one knew where she had gone or to ask for help if she didn’t get home,” he said. search and rescue said the program on Sunday.
But thinking quickly, the man, who has not been publicly identified, realized that he could use the drone he had with him to call for help. She connected her cell phone to the drone and then wrote a text message explaining that she needed help and where exactly she was, authorities said. After pressing send, she flew her drone “several hundred feet in the air.”
“The increased elevation allowed his phone to connect to a tower and send the message, which resulted in our teams fanning out and helping him out of his situation,” the search and rescue group said.
The authorities added that during the rescue of the man, they were also able to locate and rescue another motorist who had spent “several days” stranded in the snow.
The man had his vehicle stuck in the snow on a remote road in the Willamette National Forest.
Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue
Rescuers praised the man’s ingenuity and said he also made the right decision by staying in his vehicle.
“Rarely does anyone in Oregon die from weather exposure waiting in their vehicle to be found and rescued, but sadly we have seen many poor outcomes from those who chose to drive away,” officials said.
They added that anyone going outdoors should tell a trusted person exactly where they are going and when they will return, and not deviate from the plan.
In Southern California in December, other motorists who stranded without cell service they were also able to ask for help in an unusual way. Cloe Fields and her boyfriend, Christian Zelada, were driving through the Angeles National Forest when their car went off a cliff and landed on the canyon floor 300 feet below.
The couple, who miraculously survived, said Well-informed person were able to ask for help through a new SOS emergency via satellite feature on the iPhone 14. The feature detected their fall and that they were out of cell phone range, and used satellites to connect them to emergency services.
Do you have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.
