Move Over, MacGyver! Man Uses Drone To Save Himself And Others Stuck In Mountains.

Whenever photographer Casey Ryan heads into the wilderness, he brings along his drone to capture photographs from a bird’s eye view. Having the flying device with him on a recent excursion to the Cascades Mountain Range in Oregon likely saved his and another person’s life.

Casey was driving through the Willamette National Forest when he came across a stranger whose vehicle was stuck. They had been stranded there for days, so Casey volunteered to help them get their car out. Unfortunately, Casey got his own vehicle stuck in a ditch while trying to help, leaving both people stranded with no cell phone service for miles around.

Casey says his mind is always working to find innovative solutions to problems. He immediately assessed the situation and realized that in order to get cell service, he’d need to get higher up the mountain. He recalled a movie he’d seen recently in which a character uses a drone to elevate their phone enough to catch a signal, so he pulled out his device and got to work.

First, he attached his cell phone securely to his drone. Then, he typed a series of messages to his wife.

“Hi sweetheart,” read the first text. “I’m sending my phone in the sky with my drone. Hope to get this message through. I just keep praying by the moment I have enough gas to get me through one more night.”

He told her where he was located in the park, then held his breath as he attempted to launch the now-heavy drone into the air.

“As the propellers went, I gave it a little boost… and I got it going and I shipped it up to the sky,” he said.

The drone soared several hundred feet into the air. Somewhere up there over the tall trees, it picked up a signal and whoosh! All of Casey’s texts were sent. They were saved!

Rescuers arrived and saved both Casey and the other motorist. People are calling him a “real-life MacGyver,” but he’s just grateful to be out of the woods. Who knows, maybe future drones will have built-in emergency features added thanks to this photographer’s ingenuity. We’d totally buy a phone drone!