‘Butt-dial’ saves teen’s life in Tennessee

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A Tennessee man may not be alive had he not "butt-dialed" Siri on his iPhone.

Sam Ray, 18, said the accidental phone call saved his life after he was pinned under a truck while home alone. A month ago, Ray was in the Vanderbilt Trauma Unit after being crushed underneath his truck.

"I had a funny noise underneath that I thought needed attention," he said. "So I got underneath there and located the noise."

The jack he was using fell apart and sent the nearly 5,000 pound truck crashing down on his chest and limbs.

"It felt like my leg was breaking because I could feel it bending," Ray said.

As Ray tried to free his leg, his iPhone lit up in his back pocket. It was Siri.

"You know when Siri goes off at the most inopportune time? I was like, 'Why are you going off?'" Ray said.

Ray realized Siri was there to help. While on his back, his body somehow hit the phone's home button. Doctors called it "the butt-dial that saved his life."

"I said, 'Call 911,' and that was all it said," Ray said.

Minutes later, he was able to alert emergency personnel. On Friday, Ray met the woman on the other end of the phone call.

"It was just scary," said Christina Lee, a dispatcher with the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office. "I was hopeful that he could hear me. It was a shot in the dark. I kept yelling so that if he could hear me, he would know help was on the way."

Ray had several broken ribs, a crushed kidney and burns. Looking back on it, he and his family said Ray must be here for a reason and purpose.

"To survive and to be able to walk out, I have a great family and friends that are willing to pray and a God that will help me," Ray said.

Ray's father is the pastor at Heartland Baptist Church in Murfreesboro. Ray will head to college in Mississippi next month to possibly pursue a career in the ministry.