A Facebook post helped save a teen’s life after his dinghy capsized near a fishing village in the U.K. on Thursday.
According to the Mirror, the unidentified 18-year-old was in the sea, about 1.6 kilometres away from Mevagissey, Cornwall, when he used his dying cell phone to post a single word on Facebook: “STRANDED.”
A friend spotted the message and alerted the teen’s mom, who then called the coastguard for help.
The teen was treading water in darkness for two hours before rescuers found him.
Lifeboat crew member Tim Stables recalled the nighttime scene to ITV News. The crew initially mistook the teen for a buoy until they saw a hand wave to them. The young man wasn’t wearing a lifejacket.
“When he saw us going past I’ve never seen somebody wave so frantically as he did,” Stables said.
Brixham coastguard member Jeremy Lynn also chimed in on the rescue.
“He is obviously a fit young lad, but was only in shorts and a T-shirt. The water temperatures is only around 15-16 degrees (Celsius) at this time of the year so he could have been quite cold,” he said.
Crew members brought the teen to a waiting ambulance and later transferred him to hospital where he stayed overnight.
The rescue is remarkable because the area is notorious for its unreliable wireless and cell phone coverage.
Rural parts of Cornwall have even been dubbed “not-spots” by Prime Minister David Cameron because of its connectivity problems.
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