Text Messages to Greece Save a Life in New Zealand

Last week I wrote about a man in Germany who got disoriented on a frozen sea, only to be saved by someone hundreds of miles away watching the sunset via webcam. This week comes word of a man who got lost in New Zealand and was saved via text messages he sent to Greece.

According to New Zealand's Stuff (via the Waikato Times), a Greek tourist got lost on Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand over the weekend after going for a walk to take pictures of a waterfall. Marios Symeonidis, 30, got separated from his friend and wasn't dressed for a night on a mountain, so, he sent text messages to the only people he could think to contact — his family back in Greece. His family got in touch with the police in New Zealand courtesy of emergency services in Greece.

Marty Edghill, senior sergeant of police central communications, was quoted as saying, "The texts stated that he was lost but not injured and at one point indicated that he could see a police 4 x 4 vehicle on the mountain." Unfortunately, Symeonidis couldn't get to that vehicle but four search teams on foot and a rescue helicopter were sent in. He ended up spending the night on the mountain but was picked up the next morning by another tourist, who got him to the rescue teams. According to the article, Symeonidis was "fit and well, but extremely hungry."

Let's hear it for technology, saving another life from a long distance away.

Photo courtesy of ericthehalibut via Flickr