Hiker hurt in 150-foot slide finds phone with 1% battery to call for help, CA cops say

A hiker was injured after sliding 150 feet down a California mountain with no way to call for help — until he found a random cellphone with 1% battery life.

Matthew Jaurequi went hiking with a friend on Dec. 21 on the Ice House Canyon Saddle, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

The two hikers came across a thick patch of ice and lost their footing. They slid about 150 feet down the mountain, and Jaurequi was injured.

The hiker lost his phone while sliding and had no way to call for help, he told police. However, he found a stray cellphone on the mountain that had only 1% battery life left.

He used that cellphone to call 911, Jaurequi told the sheriff’s office.

Rescuers found Jaurequi and his friend about 7,600 feet above sea level and hoisted them off the mountain. He was taken to a nearby hospital, and his friend, who was uninjured, continued hiking.

Jaurequi’s condition was not released by deputies.

Days earlier, on Dec. 19, a different hiker reported losing his phone in the area after slipping on ice, the sheriff’s office said. Jeaffreson Guevara slid at least 900 feet down the mountain and lost his phone.

“We cannot confirm if the phone was actually Guevara’s or if it belonged to someone else, but a heck of a coincidence,” the sheriff’s office told McClatchy News.

This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Hiker hurt in 150-foot slide finds phone with 1% battery to call for help, CA cops say."