oddly enough

oddly enough

‘Call 911’: Man says Siri made the call that saved his life

WATERHILL, Tenn.

A Middle Tennessee teen is alive, thanks to Siri.

Eighteen-year-old Sam Ray said the voice-recognition service on his iPhone – famously named Siri – called emergency dispatchers after his truck fell on him while he tried to make repairs.

Ray told media outlets that a jack collapsed, pinning him under nearly 5,000 pounds of metal in a location where he couldn’t be easily seen or heard. He said he was trying to get free when he heard Siri activate.

“I said ‘Call 911,’ and that was all it said,” he said.

Rutherford County dispatcher Christina Lee said she first thought it was a mistaken pocket-dial, but then she heard his screams for help and sent crews, who rescued him.

She said she knew his general location from the cellphone signal, but Ray helped them pinpoint his exact whereabouts.

“The map got to his street. ... It got pretty close,” Lee said. “But he was yelling his address, and that was the best thing he could have done.”

When volunteer firefighters arrived, they raised the truck back up with a jack and pulled Ray out. He was under the truck for about 40 minutes.

“I could feel myself slipping,” he said. “I was starting to accept that I wouldn’t get out.”

Batman impersonator who did charity work dies on roadway

HAGERSTOWN, Md.

A Maryland man who delighted thousands of children by impersonating Batman at hospitals and charity events died when he was hit by a car while standing in the fast lane of Interstate 70, checking the engine of his custom-made Batmobile, police said Monday.

Leonard B. Robinson, 51, of Owings Mills, was returning from a weekend festival in South Charleston, W.Va., when he was struck by a Toyota Camry about 10:30 p.m. Sunday near the unincorporated community of Big Pool, about 90 miles west of Baltimore. Robinson had pulled his car onto the median, with the passenger side partly in the traffic lane, police said.

Police said the Camry also sideswiped the red-and-black Batmobile, a replica of the car used in the 1960s “Batman” television show. The Camry driver, a 39-year-old man from Charlottesville, Va., wasn’t hurt and hasn’t been charged.

Police said Robinson’s car was uninsured and wore a Maryland license, “4BATMAN,” that was issued to another vehicle.

Robinson, co-owner of an appliance- repair business in Falls Church, Va., began visiting hospitalized children in 2001, masquerading as his son’s favorite superhero, according to Robinson’s website, www.superheroesforkids.org.

Associated Press