9-year-old unlocks unconscious father's iPhone with his face to call 911

When 9-year-old Jayline Barbosa Brandao's parents were overcome by carbon monoxide from a backup power generator in October, the Brockton, Mass., girl sprang into action and unlocked her father's Face ID-equipped iPhone to call emergency services.

On Oct. 28, Brandao was in bed when she heard her dad yelling, reports CNN. Rushing to her parents' room, she found her mother overwhelmed by the odorless gas. Her father lost consciousness shortly after.

"I thought it was just a headache, then two to three minutes I didn't feel anything after that," the girl's mother, Marcelina Brandao, told CNN affiliate WFXT.

Brandao reached for her father's iPhone and unlocked the device by holding it up to his face. It is unclear if iPhone's attention awareness feature was enabled. The security safeguard requires users to look at their device before authorizing entry.

After calling emergency services, the young girl led her 7-year-old sister outside to seek assistance from a neighbor, CNN reports. Brandao's family was taken to the hospital for treatment and all are doing well.

"She was so smart," Brandao's mother said. "That was very scary. If it wasn't (for) her to call right away I don't know what would have happened."

Brandao's family set up a borrowed generator after their home had gone without power for three days due to the powerful nor'easter that wreaked havoc on wide swaths of the East Coast. Though the generator was reportedly operated outside for only a few minutes before it was switched off and brought indoors, carbon monoxide permeated throughout the house at a detected 1,000 parts per million.

Likely unbeknownst to Brandao, any user can call emergency services on a locked iPhone by following the appropriate onscreen prompts. Apple also provides an Emergency SOS feature that automatically dials the local emergency number by simultaneously pressing iPhone's volume and side buttons.

20 Comments

IslandLife 1 comment · 3 Years

About 3 years ago

You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

IslandLife said:

You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...

Obviously, but this is a 9-year-old child that most likely doesn't use an iPhone for phone calls. She's a smart kid to find another way.

Fidonet127 591 comments · 5 Years

Missing some details here or some are wrong.

Brandao's family set up a borrowed generator after their home had gone without power for three days due to the powerful nor'easter that wreaked havoc on wide swaths of the East Coast. Though the generator was operated outside for only a few minutes before it was switched off and brought indoors, carbon dioxide permeated throughout the house at a detected 1,000 parts per million.

If the generator is off, it isn't generating any CO.

From an article:
She said they set the generator up near the back door outside their home and only ran it for a few minutes before shutting it down because it was noisy.
Then she and her husband unplugged everything from it and brought it into the house for safekeeping.
They thought it was a safe place, but now she realizes it was too close to the house.
The National Weather Service says you should keep a backup generator at least 20 feetaway from doors, windows and vents and recommends homes have working carbon monoxide detectors.

Probably fuzziness of thinking after that, however I doubt it was only for a few minutes. Seems running it near the door, was the problem. Just not going to get fridges cold or stuff charged in that amount of time. Glad they are ok. Wondering if he had his eyes open, to be considered looking at his phone.

winstoner71 117 comments · 7 Years

Fidonet127 said:

Missing some details here or some are wrong.

Brandao's family set up a borrowed generator after their home had gone without power for three days due to the powerful nor'easter that wreaked havoc on wide swaths of the East Coast. Though the generator was operated outside for only a few minutes before it was switched off and brought indoors, carbon dioxide permeated throughout the house at a detected 1,000 parts per million.
If the generator is off, it isn't generating any CO.

From an article:
She said they set the generator up near the back door outside their home and only ran it for a few minutes before shutting it down because it was noisy.
Then she and her husband unplugged everything from it and brought it into the house for safekeeping.
They thought it was a safe place, but now she realizes it was too close to the house.
The National Weather Service says you should keep a backup generator at least 20 feetaway from doors, windows and vents and recommends homes have working carbon monoxide detectors.
Probably fuzziness of thinking after that, however I doubt it was only for a few minutes. Seems running it near the door, was the problem. Just not going to get fridges cold or stuff charged in that amount of time. Glad they are ok. Wondering if he had his eyes open, to be considered looking at his phone.

May not have had “Require Attention For Face ID” on, a toggle in the settings, which would’ve cancelled out the need for the eyes to be open. Either way, quick thinking by a 9 year old.