Man Stranded in Oregon Woods Rescued After Finding Cell Reception by Flying Phone to Service Area With Drone

The man typed a text message to a family member telling him exactly where he was and hit send even though he didn't actually have a cell phone signal.

A motorist in Oregon finds himself stranded in a remote forest, no cellphone service, no way of calling for help, and a vehicle that is not equipped to drive in the snow.

There was no way out for the motorist.

He did have two things — a drone and his cellphone — that he ingeniously put together, MacGyver style.

The man typed a text message to a family member telling him exactly where he was and hit send even though he didn't actually have a cellphone signal.

Then, he attached his cellphone to the drone and sent it soaring into the air

The drone flew several-hundred feet up and the cellphone was able to find a signal and send out the urgent text message.

"The key was that as soon as he hit send it was just a matter of seconds until his phone was up in the air where it did have service and your phone does try for a little bit of time to get a text message out," Jason Bowman of the Lane County Sheriff's search and rescue team tells Inside Edition.

Bowman adds that when the motorist flew the phone back down he was able to see that his message had been successfully sent.

Rescuers eventually located the stranded driver on a remote road in the Willamette National Forest located in Oregon's Cascade Mountain rage.

"Don't go alone and don't even go just in one vehicle. We want to see groups with well-equipped four-wheel drive vehicles, that way if one gets stuck, there's another vehicle that hopefully isn't stuck that can help," Bowman says.

And maybe bring along a phone drone for some added safety.

Experts also say to always let somebody know the exact route and estimated time of arrival when planning a trip, and do not deviate from that plan.

 

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