Snowboarder saved by mobile phone

[Alpine]

Glow in the dark

IT JUST goes to show that carrying a mobile phone isn't always a health hazard. It can save your life too as Brit snowboarder, Thomas Murphy, found out. He was located after waving his glowing handset to attract attention.


Murphy had been buried by an avalanche in the French in the resort of Les Deux Alpes. However, he called a friend in Britain on his mobile phone who alerted French rescue services.

When Murphy spotted the rescue helicopter, he lit up his phone and waved it around. The glimmer was sufficient for the crew to located him.

Unfortunately Italian paraglider, Antonio Montagno, wasn't so lucky. He had no mobile phone and thus spent three days dangling upside-down from a tree.

Rescuers had almost given up because of bad weather before they finally found him. His wife was reported as saying," 'That's it. From now on he's staying at home and taking up a quiet hobby like stamp collecting." Although he didn't have a phone to call for help, Montagno did, however, have a colourful red and white canopy.

The INQuirer