iPhone and Apple Watch Help Florida Woman Escape Flipped, Sinking Car

A Seffner, Florida woman used some quick thinking and two Apple products to help herself escape a very dangerous situation.

Amanda Antonio, 20, was driving home from a New Year’s Eve party around 4 a.m. On the way home, Antonio said she swerved to avoid a driver who had cut her off. Antonio’s car ended up flipping several times before coming to a stop in a muddy ditch.

“All I remember is losing control, and then just flipping and I just kept flipping until I finally stopped,” she told local media.

While she was trapped and suspended upside down, Antonio’s vehicle quickly began filling up with mud and water.

“I thought I wasn’t going to make it out because I couldn’t open the door,” she said. “The water was coming in where my head was.”

She then began searching for her iPhone, and though she couldn’t find it, she remained calm. It was at that time that Antonio remembered what was on her wrist.

“I realized I had my Apple Watch on so I pinged (my phone) and it was under water,” she said. “I found it and it had 4 percent left so I called 911.”

With the dispatcher on the line trying to keep Antonio calm, first responders frantically searched for the flipped vehicle.

Antonio then realized she could help by opening up Google Maps and pinpointing her own location — which helped emergency services narrow down her location.

The woman said the water had reached her chin when Hillsborough sheriff’s deputies finally spotted her car. With just seconds to spare, deputies pulled her to safety.

On the ambulance ride, Antonio reportedly told her rescuers that she was just as worried about snakes and alligators.

She was examined at the hospital. But amazingly, Antonio only suffered minor injuries from the crash. Local authorities said she is currently in “good condition.”

“Today it took an entire team to save a life, and we could not be more proud of the effort of our men and women,” the Hillsborough sheriff’s office said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time that an Apple Watch had helped someone involved in a car crash.

In late 2017, a 24-year-old woman used an Apple Watch to call for aid for herself and her 9-month-old baby after a drunk driver struck the vehicle they were in. Earlier that year, a 22-year-old college student also used the Apple Watch’s SOS feature to contact emergency responders when his car was struck and flipped on its side.