Google Maps and Google Street is an amazing and fantastic invention. Youcan look up anywhere you need to go to and also get directions if you’re in a new town. But sometimes these apps are used for more than just finding a local Starbucks.
sometimes Google Maps has actually saved people’s life. From people who were castaways on an island, to a boy who found his home after decades lost.
Today we’re going to look at Times Google Maps saved lives
1. A castaway boy
For a lot of people their biggest fear is getting washed up on an abandoned Island kind of like the movie castaway. well that’s exactly what’s happened to three sailors in 2016.
One night their boat was having trouble and they had to swim to a deserted island. This island was called fana deke and it was several hundred miles north of Papua New Guinea. For three days they were stranded on this island.
The men had no knowledge of how to survive in nature but they did use stones to spell out the word help. Soon someone using a google satellite was able to see the word help spelt out in stones. then a US Navy plane flew above the island and saw the main signal thankfully the US Navy landed and rescued the men all of the sailors have.
2. Corporate kidnapping (Sander Co Claire)
We all know that Google can be used for solving crimes. But what about stopping an ongoing crime. that’s what happened to Sander Co Claire in 2015. Sander worked for the British business SME tuk limited.
But one day as he was going to work an ex-employee of the company named John Charles. Kidnapped in John Charles the ex-employee was very bitter apparently his boss owed him money which is why he kidnapped sander. He wanted to use sander to schedule a one-on-one meeting with him and his former boss.
But when John kidnapped sander sandy was able to hide his phone from John sander then waited until John had left the room. And then he used Google Maps and sent his location to his boss. When his boss got the Google map linked to his location he drove there immediately and thankfully he was able to save his employee Sander.
The police were also called and they arrested John was then sentenced to eight years in jail.
3. Homecoming (Sarah)
When you’re a kid there’s nothing scarier than getting lost we all know that fear of losing our parents in a supermarket. Well if you think that’s bad then hear the story of one kid named Sarah.
When Sarah was 5 years old he got on board a runaway train in India he was then separated from his village and his family. He no way to get home. He had to start a whole new life all by himself and for 23 years he searched for his
family.
But because he was so young when he was separated from them he couldn’t remember where they were or where they lived.
He couldn’t even remember his family’s last name however he did remember one thing that was that his home town was closed off by two bridges.
So when he was older and when Google Maps was invented he went on the site using the knowledge of the two bridges closing off his town. He was able to find it on Google Maps.
He traveled to his town and was able to find his family. Sarah credits Google Maps and Earth with saving his life. He says without his family he wasn’t really living but now he lives with them reunited all thanks to Google Maps.
4. Forest Escape
Every year 60 people go missing in national parks around the USA some of them are gigantic and people like to go off trial which is why they get lost.
This is what happened to one 15 year old boy named Austin Bohannon in 2017 he’s from Tennessee USA.
One day went hiking off a trail this was in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was walking alone and soon lost his way and he realized he had no phone signal either. For 11 days he walked around the National Park with no food and no water.
He had been reported missing and Rangers had gone out to look for him but they didn’t want too many people to go out because they didn’t want to destroy any tracks left by Austin.
On the 11th day he realized that while his phone didn’t have signal. He may be able to get a GPS signal. He turned his phone on and sure enough Google Maps led him out of the area he was led to an area called tab cat Creek there he was able to get to a local town. And explain what had happened he was taken to a local hospital and was treated for exhaustion and dehydration.
He said if it wasn’t for Google Maps and GPS he wouldn’t have made it out of the forest alive.
So guys remember never go off trail when you’re walking in a national park
5. missing car in October of 2006
A man named David Lee Niles went missing he was last seen one night leaving Jake’s spur and Byron Township Michigan.
For years his family search day and night trying to find him alive. Somewhere at the time of his disappearance he was 67 years old this means he may not have fared – well if he got lost somewhere.
but five years later in 2011 the family lost hope even though they prayed every day he was still alive they thought he was probably not. Then six years later in 2017 a car was found and David was inside it. The car was found because someone was looking at a pond on Google
Maps from the satellite images they realized a car was submerged in the pond.
Inside the car was David’s skeleton which is very sad. So while Google Maps didn’t save his life. It did save his family from having to wonder about what happened to him.
Thankfully they now have answers as to what happened to their loved relative.
Some family members even said they weren’t really living not knowing where David was.
But now it’s time to make your voice heard
have you ever used Google Maps to get
yourself out of a jam
Also check out: Thomas Musgrave Castaway Story
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