‘It’s a miracle’: Hammond man used Siri to call 911 while being trapped under boulder near Astoria

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - A Hammond man was trapped under a large boulder during a fishing trip near Astoria on Saturday. His family is now sharing details about his rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities.

Early Saturday morning, Joe Little, 28, was fishing alone at the Hammond Marina jetty when his grandmother said a rock he had sat on several times before began to move.

“He said that he felt it start to move and he put his feet down to stop it, but the boulder was huge, and he slipped down and it just went over him,” said Kelly Simonson, Little’s grandmother.

Trapped under the boulder and located below the high tide water line, Little knew he needed help quickly.

His mother, Mindy, said Little’s Bluetooth earbuds stayed connected when he fell, allowing him to ask Siri to call 911.

Just after 7 a.m., Warrenton police and fire crews were dispatched to the jetty.

Sgt. Dylan McCoy said responders were able to narrow down Little’s location by honking their vehicle horns. A dispatcher who was listening on the phone with Little would ask whether he could hear the horn nearby.

McCoy said the rocky terrain was too hazardous for responders to safely walk through, so they launched a drone.

Three minutes after launching the drone, McCoy spotted Little. Only part of his upper body and his feet were visible.

Responders then had to figure out how to free him. The rocky terrain and the size of the boulder made the rescue difficult.

According to McCoy, Warrenton Fire devised a plan to remove some of the smaller rocks underneath Little rather than attempting to move the larger boulder.

“They removed some of the smaller ones and that allowed them to move him from underneath the extremely large boulder which had trapped him,” McCoy said.

A Coast Guard helicopter arrived at the scene shortly before 9 a.m. Crews hoisted Little from the jetty and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical personnel at Coast Guard Air Station Astoria.

Little is now at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital (OHSU) in Portland, where he is being treated for severe facial injuries, including a broken jaw.

“His face got smashed. He’s almost unrecognizable.” Mindy said. “It’s a miracle that my son is alive.”

Little is scheduled to undergo facial reconstruction surgery Thursday. The procedure is expected to last about eight hours.

The Little family has launched a Support Now fundraiser to help with Joe’s medical expenses.