Farmer survives being pinned under concrete block, thanks to desperate texts

The half-tonne concrete lid of a submersible pump slipped and pinned New Zealand farmer Ken Miller in a stream at the bottom of a gully.

Miller was convinced he'd either lose his arm or drown.

"It was coming down harder on my arm, it was all numb," Miller told The Dominion Post.
"I didn't have a knife, so I couldn't cut my arm off. I did think about that, but you would need a hell of a knife to cut through that bone.

"I didn't really panic – I was trying to work out when I was going to be found, later that night or the next morning."

Unable to free himself – and sinking further into the mud – Miller reached for his phone.

He told The Dominion Post that he usually doesn't carry his phone with him, but he was expecting a call from the pump service.

With limited cell reception, none of his emergency called connected.

Even though the screen was damp, making it hard to text anything legible, Miller managed to text the words "help," "stuck" and "rivrr" to his friend Sandra Duthie.

Duthie and her friend Clint Wright didn't hesitate to respond.

"I knew he would never ask for help unless it was dire," Duthie said.

On the way to the river, they received another text:

"Arm stuck need to loift ttactor will die."

Duthie and Wright made the 16-kilometre journey down winding roads to Miller's side in just 20 minutes – and found Miller, alive, with his head still above water.

Wright was able to move the concrete block off Miller's arm with the tractor while Duthie called an ambulance.

Miller was examined at a local hospital, but only suffered some bruising.

He'll likely be carrying his phone with him more often. First, he wants a waterproof case.

Smartphones save lives.

Earlier this spring, 3-year-old Aryanna Lynch was able to unlock her unconscious mother's cell phone and call for help. The Massachusetts preschooler's call likely saved her pregnant mother's life.

And last May, an 84-year-old man in Florida dialled the wrong number and left an urgent message on the stranger's phone. Fortunately, the stranger, 27-year-old Ashely Yasick, called back. When she realized something was terribly wrong, she contacted local police, asking them to check in on the man. She saved his life.