Kate Garraway and Adil Ray were left stunned during the latest edition of Good Morning Britain as a guest revealed how his phone's safety feature saved his life. The pair were at the helm of the ITV news programme on Thursday (April 7) and were joined by snowboarder Tim Blakey.
Their guest, who was live in the studio, was on the show to share his incredible story of survival after the ground under him gave way and fell 15ft into a crevasse while he was snowboarding off-piste in Switzerland.
Fortunately, Tim managed to land on a fragile shelf of ice to break his fall but if it wasn't for that, he could have fallen off deeper. Despite being in a better position than he could have been, Tim had just three percent battery left on his phone.
"My mind trying to go to bed every night just replays what would have happened if I missed that little bridge and fallen off deeper. I'm sure I wouldn't have got a 3G connection down there," he said.
But, in that terrifying moment, Tim remembered that pressing the on/off button five times on the device would call emergency services for him. "For the first few moments I tried to call out for help... it was after four or five minutes that I realised that no one was coming," he recalled.
After attempting to message a friend, he remembered a 'five-click function' on his phone. "I remember hearing about this five-click function, which will automatically dial emergency services," he said. "It was so efficient - it didn't go via the UK, just went straight to Switzerland. Spoke to the emergency services in Switzerland. The telephone operator was very helpful, obviously..."
Clearly surprised, Kate interjected: "So they picked up and spoke to you?" to which Tim confirmed: "They picked up and spoke to me," before getting out his phone and demonstrating what he meant after Adil asked: "So it was the power button?"
Adil continued: ‘I didn’t know about it but Kate knows about it," as Tim offered to demonstrate with Kate interrupting: "I’ve accidentally done it just when I’ve been fumbling for my keys in my bag."
Tim was able to show viewers that on an iPhone you can press the side button five times and a call for help will be made. If help is not required, users have eight seconds to cancel the call.
Later, when Adil and Kate spoke to Ranvir Singh, who is filling in for Lorraine Kelly on her self-titled ITV show, the presenter said she was distracted by Tim's interview and had her phone in her hand testing the method.
As for the rest of Tim's story, rescue volunteer, Michael Schwarz, had been at the ski resort of Saas-Fee when he received an emergency call, which gave Tim's location. Michael then led the rescue team and got a helicopter to take them to the spot near where Tim had fallen, which he said the ice was beginning to crack as it had been a warm day.
Within 45 minutes of Michael receiving the call, Tim was rescued and on his way to the hospital and luckily only sustained an injured ligament to an ankle.
