A nearly incomprehensible string of characters posted on her Facebook status update may be responsible for saving Fleur Costello’s life. The Leatherland, England resident was having a stroke when she managed to grab her laptop and send a string of messed up characters to her Facebook page.
According to Costell0,o she was feeling dizzy and eventually fell into unconsciousness. Partially paralyzed by her stroke, Costello grabbed the sheets on her bed and pulled her laptop towards her place on the floor.
Known as the “Facebook Queen” by her friends, Costello still had her Facebook page open and was able to type the following message:
“help faintef cannoi get up uhrlp gurt h4ead.”
In a moment of pure luck, Costello’s husband, Karl Equi, was checking his Facebook account, even though he “can’t stand” the social network.
Karl tells UK’s The Sun he decided to check out Facebook and give it another shot when he read what he believed to be:
“Help, fainted, cannot get up, help, hurt head.”
Karl typed back:
“Wtf? hello on way.”
As he headed home, Karl called for emergency services and asked a neighbor to check on his wife. The neighbor broke her way into the home and ran to Fluer Costello’s side.
The most amazing part of this story? Costello is the second known Facebook user in 2012 to send a muddled Facebook message that saved their life.
While study’s continue to warn about the dangers of Facebook, Twitter, and other social network use, those same dangerous networks have continued to save lives, act as support groups for suicidal teens, and, in the case of Reddit , bring about social acts of change and kindness.
