iPhone 5S Is A life Saver, Literally! Phone Saves Student From Bullet
Modern-day smartphones have long been accused of being fragile and mostly with good reasons. But reports have been surfacing lately that have some smartphones, like the iPhone, doing some pretty remarkable things that call to mind the indestructibility of old school phones.
One graduate student from Fresno State has his iPhone 5S to thank for saving him in a recent robbery. Lieutenant Joe Gomez of the Fresno Police Department reported that the student was on his way home when he was approached from behind by an unidentified assailant. The thief had intentions to steal the laptop bag the young man carried with him and pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun. Reportedly, as the attacker grabbed the laptop bag from the victim, he pulled the bag back and still being within very close range of the victim, the attacker fired a shot at the young man.
In what is a great fortune for this student, the assailant fired a single shot at the young man and his iPhone graciously took the bullet for him. The thief ended up making off with the HP laptop the student had but luckily, he had not sought to steal the phone too. The phone, which was in a Speck brand protective case, took the full impact of the bullet and deflected it. While the iPhone was shattered beyond repair, the student sustained no grievous bodily harm, thanks to the phone. The suspect is still at large and the student has declined identification due to this.
The life saving news about the iPhone may not exactly be used as a marketing technique by Apple when the newest line of products are announced next week in San Francisco as the CEO takes the stage, but maybe it should be. It’s actually not the first instance that an iPhone has saved a person from certain doom. Digital Trends gave mention of a different story with a similar outcome. In May, a British man survived a close range shot gun blast due to his iPhone. The man had an iPhone 5C in his breast pocket and it absorbed the blast. Police on the case say he would definitely have died if not for the phone. In another instance, albeit this time with no gun involvement, a man was saved by his iPhone in June from a metal bar piercing his chest.
Techworm says that in an interview with an NBC News affiliate, the young man’s roommate, Faris Alotaibi, said his friend was really lucky the bullet lodged in his phone and not him. The victim was reportedly so shaken by the whole ordeal that he has packed up and returned home, with no intentions of returning to Fresno.
Hopefully, he keeps that iPhone in memory of what could have been if not for the phone saving him.
[Photos Courtesy of NBC News coverage]
