An Oregon fisherman was rescued early Saturday morning after a large boulder trapped him on the Hammond Marina jetty in Astoria. Joe Little, 28, used his Bluetooth earbuds to ask Siri to call 911, initiating a multi-agency rescue effort that ultimately freed him from beneath the rock. He is now recovering in a Portland hospital from severe facial injuries.
Little was fishing alone on the jetty when a rock he had sat on multiple times before began to move, according to his grandmother, Kelly Simonson. She recounted his experience, stating that Little felt the rock shift and tried to brace it with his feet, but "the boulder was huge. He slipped down, and it just went over him." Trapped under the immense rock and located below the high tide waterline, Little quickly realized he needed immediate help.
His Bluetooth earbuds remained connected during the fall, which proved critical for his rescue. He was able to use the connected earbuds to ask Siri to dial 911, alerting authorities to his perilous situation.
Warrenton police and fire crews were dispatched to the jetty just after 7 a.m. Upon arrival, responders faced the challenge of locating Little in the rocky terrain. Police Sgt. Dylan McCoy explained that a dispatcher, who remained on the phone with Little, helped narrow down his location by asking if he could hear the car horns the crews were sounding nearby.
The rugged and hazardous nature of the rocky jetty made it unsafe for responders to walk through. To overcome this, rescue teams launched a drone, which successfully spotted Little just three minutes later. Sgt. McCoy reported that only part of Little's upper body and his feet were visible from under the boulder.
Responders then had to devise a strategy to free the trapped fisherman. The size of the boulder and the difficult terrain presented significant obstacles. Sgt. McCoy stated that Warrenton Fire developed a plan to remove some of the smaller rocks positioned underneath Little, rather than attempting the more difficult task of moving the extremely large boulder itself. This methodical approach allowed crews to successfully move him from under the trapping rock.
Shortly before 9 a.m., a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter arrived at the scene. Crews hoisted Little from the jetty and transported him to awaiting emergency medical personnel at Coast Guard Air Station Astoria.
Little is currently hospitalized in Portland, where he is being treated for severe facial injuries, including a broken jaw. His mother described his condition, saying his face "got smashed" and he is "almost unrecognizable." She called his survival "a miracle that my son is alive." Little was scheduled to undergo an eight-hour facial reconstruction surgery on Thursday. His family has established an online fundraiser to help manage the accumulating medical expenses.