An injured Quebec man stuck alone in the middle of the forest 330 km from Baie-Comeau for hours under his mechanical excavator and without cell service was saved thanks to a little-known feature on his iPhone.
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“I didn’t even know how it worked. “I remembered that with my new iPhone I was able to contact emergency services ten minutes after the accident, even without cell service,” Maxime Lajoie tells the Journal.
This 34-year-old father, who lives in Baie-Comeau, narrowly escaped on September 22nd. He was 330 km from his home to carry out work on a chalet in the forest. At some point, Mr. Lajoie made a bad maneuver and his excavator fell on its two feet around 3:30 p.m.
The Quebecer’s legs are trapped under part of the excavator. Photo credit: Maxime Lajoie Maxime Lajoie
“My friends had gone hunting and I was alone. It hurt, he admits. No one could hear me and I had no signal. I couldn’t call 911.
Shocking lyrics
Maxime Lajoie then thought about using “Urgence SOS” via satellite on his iPhone. This feature allows you to send text messages to emergency services even when a cellular or Wi-Fi network is not available. Only the iPhone 14 and 15 feature this technology and were launched in Quebec in December 2022.
The “Emergency SOS” function via satellite to send text messages with the iPhone 14 and 15 to emergency services, without cellular network and without Wi-Fi. Apple / Courtesy
“Call the ambulance at KM 313 if my friends find me. I will try not to lose the functionality of my legs. […] I would like to hold on, but now I need someone,” reads this series of messages from the father.
While texting, Baie-Comois tried to dig under his feet to get out more easily, but a rock was under him.
Maxime Lajoie in the ambulance on the way to the hospital in Baie-Comeau. Maxime Lajoie
“Essentially, emergency services eventually managed to contact the nearest gas station, who then contacted a neighbor not far away,” Mr. Lajoie says. He came to help me and my other friends came. After being crushed for two hours, they finally managed to get me out and taken to the hospital, where I arrived at 11 p.m. »
Fear of not being able to walk anymore
Luckily, Maxime Lajoie had a knife with him. The instrument helped cut open his boot and improve his blood circulation when he was trapped.
“I have completed a lot of first aid training in remote areas. This allowed me to properly understand the state of shock, blood flow and hyperventilation,” testifies the man, who works full-time in the construction industry.
X-ray of a foot by Maxime Lajoie. He ended up suffering two fractures in his right foot and another in the tibia and fibula of his left foot. Maxime Lajoie
Maxime Lajoie
However, the father of a two-year-old boy has to take several weeks off work because he is temporarily in a wheelchair. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to walk anymore, but I’ll be fine soon. I only had two fractures in my right foot and another in the tibia and fibula on my left foot,” he explains.
Quebecer wheelchair alone in the forest after his accident. Maxime Lajoie
The 30-year-old hopes his statement will convince other Quebecers not to venture into areas without a cell signal without a portable or cellular device like his.
“We really shouldn’t neglect the communication aspect. I would have suffered much less if I had brought my portable radio and called my friends. I made the mistake of leaving her in the chalet,” warns Maxime Lajoie.
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