A Queensland mum has been able to help save her son’s life after receiving a text message.
The Gold Coast woman was notified that her son had been involved in a serious car accident when she received an automatic SOS text message designed to be sent out to her son’s emergency contacts.
After failed attempts to call him, she contacted the police and was able to provide them with an approximate location.
Her son and his friend, both in their late 20s from Benowa, had been on a camping trip before deciding to come back early on Monday night.
As they drove through Austinville, in the Gold Coast hinterland, their car left the road and rolled, landing 10m into bushland.
“Using that application, police were able to locate her son and his friend who had been involved in a serious traffic incident,” Acting Superintendent Scott Knowles said.
Police located the car shortly after 4.40am on Monday and both men were taken to hospital.
The passenger, who was asleep in the back of the car when it crashed, has been released from hospital.
The driver, whose phone sent out the SOS, remains in hospital in a critical condition with spinal injuries.
How automated SOS text works
Apple explains that when an iPhone or Apple Watch detects a severe car crash, it will display an alert and will automatically initiate an emergency phone call after 20 seconds, unless manually cancelled.
“If it wasn’t for this application, police may have had some issues in trying to locate where this vehicle was, but it led us to the vicinity where the vehicle was, and we were able to locate them,” Knowles said.
“This could have certainly (taken) a different turn.”