When you’re constantly flooded with idiotic selfies, belfies, and musings, it’s easy to hate on social media and see it as a modern day digital cesspool. But sometimes, there’s that rare occasion when social media contributes positively to humanity.
Case in point: Injured hiker Ryan Pritchard and his 11-year-old son were found and rescued by a California Highway Patrol team all thanks to a Facebook post. Per CBS 13:
The father and son were hiking on a remote trail when they had to call for help.
The California Highway Patrol in Sacramento got the 911 call from the 11-year-old saying he was rappelling with his father, and father had fallen and hit his head.
The call from young Jake cut out before he could tell them where his father fell. Firefighters had no idea where to do.
Somewhat-modern technology wasn’t helping…
The only clue dispatchers had was where the call connected with a cellphone tower near Vacaville, more than 30 miles away from where Jake and his dad Ryan Pritchard were actually hiking along the Blue Ridge Loop Trail near Lake Berryessa.
Dispatchers were hitting a dead-end when a trainee who had only been on the job for three weeks tried to help.
That’s when social media showed its usefulness…
“I decided to search myself since they were busy, so I plugged the name into Google and his LinkedIn account came up,” said Breanna Martinez. “So I was able to get a picture and know he was from Sacramento.”
Using his name and image, Martinez made a match on Facebook.
“I scrolled down and the very first post was a picture of his two sons and behind him was the lake—Lake Berryessa,” she said. “And it just said ‘Hiking the Blue Ridge Trail today.’”
Thanks to Facebook (via LinkedIn), the rescue crew was able to find the Pritchards before sunset. Here’s the Facebook photo that clued dispatchers on Pritchard’s location: