Man Stranded In Oregon Wilderness Uses Drone To Signal For Help

The West Coast has been hit hard with snow recently and people have become stranded both in their homes and on the roads.

One creative motorist in Oregon managed to get the help he needed after becoming stranded in the wilderness thanks to a drone.

Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue shared about the rescue in a Facebook post explaining that the motorist had attempted to travel on a remote road in the Willamette National Forest, but the road hadn’t been maintained for winter weather conditions.

Unfortunately, the man’s vehicle became stuck in the snow and he didn’t have cellphone service to call for help. The post added, “Making his situation worse, his family was out of the country and nobody knew where he had gone or to call for help if he didn’t make it home.”

While the man put himself in a risky situation that he never should’ve been in to begin with, the sheriff’s office noted that once he was stranded, he made several smart decisions.

They explained, “First, he stayed with his vehicle. Rarely does anyone in Oregon die from exposure waiting in their vehicle to be found and rescued, but we have unfortunately seen many poor outcomes from those who chose to walk away. Second, he used some ingenuity to find a way to call for help.”

They went on to say, “The man had a drone with him and attached his cell phone to the drone. He then typed a text message to a trusted person describing his situation and exact location, hit send, and launched the drone several hundred feet into the air. The increased elevation allowed his phone to connect to a tower and send the message, which resulted in our teams being deployed and assisting him out of his situation.”

They also managed to rescue a second stranded motorist while assisting the original motorist out of the woods! It was a win-win and it’s all thanks to the man’s creativity.