A Colombian hiker stuck in a blizzard in the Andes mountains surely thought he would freeze to death after discovering he had no prepaid minutes left on his cell phone. Stranded above 12,500 feet, Leonardo Diaz carefully rationed doses of brandy -- his only source of warmth. After 24 hours, he began to hear ringing. Fortunately, it was not the effects of hypothermia, but an actual call on his cell phone. The caller? The phone company, reminding him to buy more minutes. Bell South operator Maria del Pilar Basto thought it was a joke at first when he said the call "was the work of an angel" because he was lost in the South American Andes. Daiz stayed awake by talking to operators until rescue teams arrived seven hours later.
Saved by the Bell
A Colombian hiker stuck in a blizzard in the Andes mountains surely thought he would freeze to death after discovering he had no prepaid minutes left on his cell phone. Stranded above 12,500 feet, Leonardo Diaz carefully rationed doses of brandy -- his only source of warmth. After 24 hours, he began to hear ringing. Fortunately, it was not the effects of hypothermia, but an actual call on his cell phone. The caller? The phone company, reminding him to buy more minutes. Bell South operator Maria del Pilar Basto thought it was a joke at first when he said the call "was the work of an angel" because he was lost in the South American Andes. Daiz stayed awake by talking to operators until rescue teams arrived seven hours later.
