Siri can help when you’re unable to reach the phone
Access to Siri can be lifesaving, especially when the user is otherwise incapacitated, like a Florida stroke victim that used the assistant to call for help after crawling for days.
Daniel Vallaire, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said that he suffered a stroke in July 2024 that left him drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to call an ambulance. Help ended up arriving only thanks to the iPhone’s “Hey Siri” feature.
As noted by 9to5mac, it was Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, that helped save his life, proving to be an unexpected lifeline for the Florida resident. “It’s the closest I’ve ever been to dying,” Vallaire said. The 70-year-old collapsed in his bathroom and spent two days crawling to the living room to reach his phone, all the while fighting for his life.
“I said, ‘Hey Siri, call Victoria Vallaire.’ And she did,” Vallaire remarked, noting that he likely wouldn’t have survived had he not been able to call his daughter via Siri.
The “Hey Siri” feature, which lets users toggle Siri only with their voice, allowed Vallaire to call his daughter. Even though she moved to California only a week before Vallaire’s stroke, she was still able to get in touch with emergency services, who came to the rescue.
Daniel Vallaire’s story was shared in December 2024 by Broward Health via YouTube:
Apple’s “Hey Siri” feature has saved people’s lives on multiple occasions. In 2019, for instance, a Nevada man survived a serious vehicle accident thanks to Apple’s virtual assistant, which called 911 for him. Similarly, the “Hey Siri” feature saved the life of a baby back in 2016, and the life of a four-year-old in 2017.
The iPhone was built with user safety in mind and is capable of calling emergency services in this way without being unlocked. Siri is able to understand phrases such as “Call 911” or “Call the fire department,” and there’s even a five-second countdown that lets users cancel the call if it was made by mistake.
Apple keeps improving Siri year over year, with substantial improvements to the virtual assistant expected in April 2025. Through Apple Intelligence and the iOS 18.4 update, Siri will be able to better understand a user’s personal context, including the important people in their lives, which could prove even more useful in emergencies.
