Man Who Nearly Died Says iPhone's Five Click Trick Helped Save His Life

A man says his iPhone's five click trick helped save his life after he became trapped in a hidden crevasse.

Tim Blakey, from the UK, was out snowboarding alone in the Swiss mountains earlier this year when he went off-piste and fell through a hidden gap in the snow, falling 15 feet.

The 41-year-old landed on a ridge, which stopped him from plummeting even further to his death.

And while he had no one with him to help, Tim explained in a post to his social media page last month that it was his mobile phone that came to the rescue.

Writing on Instagram, the thrill seeker explained that he still had 3G access despite his fall, which allowed him to activate his iPhone's Emergency SOS feature.

With just three percent of his battery left, the five click system immediately called the authorities and enabled him to send them his position.

Tim said: "A week ago to this very minute my appreciation for life changed dramatically. This past week has been a wave of emotions and introspection and I’ve not really known what to do with this experience.

"This past week has been a wave of emotions and introspection and I’ve not really known what to do with this experience."

It took him 20 minutes to get through to someone but eventually he managed it.

They told him to stay very still and that a team would be on their way to him as quickly as possible.

And miraculously, less than an hour later, a mountain rescue team pulled Tim out of the crevasse and to safety.

He wrote: "It’s not fair to say ‘my luck ran out’ because the circumstances of my survival clearly show I’ve cashed in every last luck token at my disposal."

Thanking Apple for the SOS feature, Tim said: "... 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 percent battery 5m below the ice.

"The alternative to this has been keeping me up at night to say the least."

In his post, Tim also praised the rescue team who risked their own lives to come and get him.

He went on: "Michael, and his team quite literally saved my life.

"I am still clueless as to how I will ever repay him and Swiss Rescue services.

"But I assure your I am working on it. Perhaps the first step is bringing awareness to the amazing job these guys do on the mountain and awareness to others to not be as careless as I was."

He also had a word of advice for people out their white think they can just go it alone.

"17 years snowboarding, and the majority of those times spending a lot of the time solo and off-piste. Never solo again. No matter how experienced you think you are, it is no joke," Tim warned.

On an iPhone 7 or earlier, the SOS feature is accessed by clicking the home button five times.

The SOS option will then appear. Slide it to the right and then the local emergency services will be contacted.

For more recent models, where there are no home buttons, hold down one of the volume buttons and the sleep button on the side of the phone.

The SOS option will then appear, which you slide to the right.

If you continue to hold down the buttons instead of using the SOS option, a countdown starts and an alert rings.

If you are still holding them down when the alert finishes, the emergency services will be called.