The power of social media continues to both impress and astound me, even though I feel as if we’re only just beginning to understand what we really have. If anyone’s convinced of its power, it’s Leigh Fazzina.
Fazzina was competing in a mini-triathlon last week with her cousin in Farmington, Conn. After a quarter-mile swim, she got on her mountain bike and hit the trail. As she notes in her blog, she missed a turn because “I was focusing too hard on avoiding the roots,” taking her into unfamiliar territory. She soon realized she was lost in the woods and, despite having a good sense of direction, she was lost — and it was dark. As she began to get scared, she tried to get out of the woods. Speeding down a hill, she hit some roots, pulled on her brakes and was thrown up and over her bike. According to her blog, as she was in the air, “all I kept thinking was ‘OMG – I’m going to break my neck! And there is no one out here with me!’”
She hit the ground hard, followed by her bike hitting her. Amazed she had even survived the fall and naturally panicked, she began to cry, then “the pain started to set in.” Realizing no one else was around, she screamed for help. Shock was also setting in, but she was doing her best to keep things together. After about 25 minutes of unsuccessfully trying to find help, she crawled toward her bike pack and dug out her BlackBerry, which, amazingly, had survived the accident. She tried to call for help, but the signal wasn’t strong enough. As Fazzina notes, “I’m definitely digitally connected,” having a multitude of options on the BlackBerry. Knowing she had more than 1,000 followers on Twitter, she figured it was her best bet for getting in touch with someone. Fortunately, she was able to connect with Twitter, sending the following message:
“I’ve had a serious injury and NEED Help! Can someone please call Winding Trails in Farmington, CT tell them I’m stuck bike crash in woods.”
As she continued to post updates, promising it wasn’t a joke, her Twitter followers responded. Sky News reported that “Mary Ellen Harper, director of fire and rescue services for the Farmington Fire Department, said her department got calls from California, New York and Chicago,” while Fazzina noted that someone from Oman even tried to help. In addition, one of her Twitter friends, in his last year of medical school, did what he could to keep Fazzina calm. Within minutes, she heard sirens and was soon rescued. And as one of the people in the fire department told her, “We are rescuing you from the Twitter call you did. Amazing!”
Fazzina was taken to the University of Connecticut Medical CentLer and, incredibly, had no broken bones or any other severe injuries. And she plans to get back on a bike again.
For those who may not believe in the power of social media, to quote Fazzina from her blog, “Communication in our world and in our lifetime is no doubt forever changed, and will continue to change. So please, continue to embrace it.”
Photo courtesy of Leigh Fazzina.