There have been plenty of instances when talking on an iPhone or other mobile phone endangered someone’s life, but in the case of the Manchester bombing, it’s quite the opposite. A woman’s husband believes that talking on her iPhone at the time of the explosion may have saved her life.
iPhone protects woman from flying shrapnel
Lisa Bridgett was talking on her iPhone after the Ariana Grande concert earlier this week in Manchester when the bomb exploded, sending shrapnel flying toward her, reports the BBC. One of the pieces of shrapnel was a steel nut, which took off the middle finger on the hand she was holding the phone with. The steel nut then passed through her phone and then her check before becoming lodged in her nose.
Her husband believes that the iPhone slowed down the steel nut and diverted its path slightly so that it ended up in her nose rather than in her head. She underwent surgery on Tuesday and was scheduled for another one on Thursday for the multiple injuries she suffered in the Manchester bombing. She also suffered injuries to her thigh and a broken ankle.
It certainly isn’t the first time something like this has happened. There have been other incidences of an iPhone or other electronic device saving someone’s life. Last year, a Nokia phone was credited with stopping a bullet and saving the life of a man in Afghanistan. In 2015, a YouTuber decided to see just how well the iPhone could really stop a bullet after a report that a plastic iPhone 5c had saved someone’s life.
Several men arrested in Manchester bombing
Bridgett is one of more than 60 people who were injured in the bombing at Manchester Arena, which also claimed the lives of 22 others, one of whom was identified as a 15-year-old girl. Bridgett’s husband said she is feeling “very lucky to be alive” and was staying positive. She had been attending the concert in Manchester with her daughter and one of her daughter’s friends. Twenty-three of the people who were injured are said to be in critical condition.
Police named Salman Abedi as the bomber and, according to the BBC. Police have arrested eight men ranging in age from 18 to 38 on suspicion of terrorist acts in connection with the explosion on Monday. They expect to make more arrests in connection with the Manchester bombing and have since been reviewing security measures at more than 1,300 public events across the U.K.
The investigation has stretched across international borders to Libya, where special forces with the interior ministry were holding Abedi’s younger brother and their father. His brother told Libyan officials that he knew that he had been planning an attack but did not know when or where.
