iPhone calls 911 and texts family of an unconscious woman hit head-on by a wrong-way driver
In a series of recent Instagram reels (embedded below), Sarah Hetrick shares a life-altering event that happened on May 31. She was on a cross-country road trip. That night, she was passing through Amarillo, Texas, from her home in Austin when a wrong-way driver hit her head-on. Hetrick was unconscious from the impact. Her iPhone detected the car accident and almost immediately called 911. After, it sent a text message to each of her emergency contacts.
The text said, “Crash Detected SOS. I called emergency services from this approximate location after iPhone detected a crash. You are receiving this message because I have listed you as an emergency contact.”
Paired with the message was a pin drop of Hetrick’s approximate location.
“Even though it was the middle of the night, my parents were in contact with my sister before I even knew I was in an accident,” Hectrick writes. “When I came to, help was already on the way.”
First responders cut her out of the car and transported her to the hospital. Hetrick says that by the time she arrived there, her dad had already booked a flight. Shortly after she got out of surgery on her crushed leg, he walked in.
Speaking of her dad, her reel about how much her dad helped her after the crash has 2.9 million views. To start, he stayed on the phone with her while she was pinned in the wreckage, unsure if she would make it out.
Since the accident, Hetrick has had two leg surgeries followed by weeks of physical therapy. Yesterday, she shared that she’s been released but still recovering in California with her family.
How to check that the “Call After Severe Crash” iPhone feature is on
iPhone 14 and higher have this emergency feature. To check that it’s enabled, go to “Settings” and then scroll down to “Emergency SOS.” Under “Crash Detection,” make sure that “Call After Severe Crash” is toggled on. You should also check that your emergency contacts are properly listed.
If the phone detects a severe crash, it will prompt the user to respond to a text asking if the user is okay. After 20 seconds without a reply, the phone will call emergency services and send text messages alerting emergency contacts.
