Darcy McKay, from Pambula Beach, is thankful for Siri after the voice-controlled mobile assistant called Triple-Zero for him following a serious motorbike crash.
Darcy was left with multiple fractures to his vertebrae, a fractured tailbone, broken pelvis bone and was bleeding from his pancreas after he crashed his motorbike on Thursday, May 17.
The 17-year-old had taken the scenic route home after work on the Thursday afternoon to “have some fun on the bush tracks”.
However, Darcy lost control of his motorbike in the scrub 100 metres behind Lumen Christi Catholic College and the football oval.
Having ridden the track many times before, the “sketchy section” was tackled with too much confidence.
“I came around a corner way too quick, the front wheel went into a pot hole and I went straight over the handle bars,” he said.
“It was pretty nasty.
“I felt pain straight away in my lower back, I just freaked out because I knew that I had done something to my back – but I could move my toes which was a relief.”
Darcy managed to feel his phone in his pocket but was unable to physically grab it, he engaged with the Siri voice command function on his Apple iPhone to call for help by saying, “hey Siri, call triple-zero, on speaker.”
“I couldn't move my legs, I had no muscle movement at all and was freaking out so I used Siri to call triple-zero straight away.”
Siri dialled Triple-Zero (000) on speaker phone for Darcy, allowing him to talk through directions to the operator hands-free.
“I am so thankful I knew how to use Siri properly,” he said.
“And, I am so happy I thought of using it otherwise I would have been stuffed.”
It took 20 minutes for emergency services to arrive as Darcy’s location was tricky to find.
“It was very scary laying there by yourself, I had to explain to them where I was as there were a few turns they had to take to get to me.”
Darcy was transported to the South East Regional Hospital.
Before returning to work as a plumbers apprentice in Merimbula, doctors told Darcy he will need six weeks recovery and a further four to six weeks to regain his strength.
Darcy has ridden motorbikes since he was 10 years old and said he will continue to ride in the future, although will make sure he is kitted up with the right protective gear.
“I won’t be getting on my bike again unless I am wearing full protective gear, I won’t ride in the bush unless I am wearing armour and motocross boots.”
In an emergency situation whether young or old, Darcy said a phone is the best tool to have – he will never leave the house without it.
If I did not have my phone on me I would have been stuck in that bush in a lot of pain and it would have been absolute hell.
- Darcy McKay
After experiencing the accident, Darcy sends out a message to iPhone users to activate their Siri, as he would have been “stuffed without it”.
“If a situation like that happens, you need Siri. So people should really have it set up on their phone otherwise you cant use it.”
