The young couple fell from the Angeles Crest Highway.
Cloe Fields told Insider that a feature on her phone may have saved them.
Satellites are used to contact emergency services when there is a crash.
Cloe Fields and her boyfriend, Christian Zelada, were taking a scenic drive through the Angeles National Forest when their car went over the edge of the mountain and plummeted 300 feet.
Fields told Insider that Angels Crest is their backyard. We like to drive up there. It's pretty after the rain.
At the halfway mark, the couple was being followed by another vehicle trying to pass on the winding roads that are often used in car commercials. The car spun off as they pulled over to give the driver some room to pass.
Fields remembered saying her boyfriend's name as they approached the edge, but she couldn't remember.
Zelada kept saying "We're okay, we're okay, we're okay," until he thought to himself, "This is it." This is the way it will end.
They were alive after the car fell on the floor of Monkey Canyon.
They crawled out of the vehicle, unbuckled their seat belts, and checked each other for injuries, but found nothing.
Fields said that the first thing he said was "This didn't happen". I was in disbelief the entire time.
The couple was hundreds of feet below the highway when the temperature was 40 degrees outside. They looked for their phones in the car, but they weren't there. Zelada was able to find Fields' phone up the hill. They expected that it would have no reception.
Everyone that goes up the Angeles Crest knows there is no service there. It's very far away.
There was a message on the phone that said a crash had been detected and that it was time to call the emergency services. The phone's screen looked like it had taken a bullet, but it was still in good shape to text.
They started texting with the emergency services provider and said they needed help. The person on the other end would tell them to walk a certain way or hold their phone up in a certain direction in order to help with their location information.
They were flown out of the canyon.
Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite feature uses satellites to contact emergency services when an iPhone is out of range, and the message that appeared on the phone was part of the feature. An emergency call center can collect information and notify rescue services if the feature is enabled on the phone.
Fields didn't know that the feature was on the phone she just got. Currently, it's available in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK, but it's also available in other countries.
Users can share their location with friends and family if they want to check in while traveling off the grid. It's free for two years after the first activation of the phone.
It could have been a lot worse if we hadn't found my phone.
After being contacted by the emergency service center, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, patrol units, and air rescue all responded to the scene.
As the rescuers arrived on the scene, one fireman tried to cheer her up by saying that she was alive.
Her brain was still processing what had happened even as she was being lifted out of the canyon. She is afraid of heights, but all she remembered was "Thank God, we're going, we're leaving this"
The vehicle was seen from the helicopter as well as when the couple was lifted out of the canyon.
The couple returned home with their dog after they were evaluated and taken to a hospital. They both have had headaches, and Zelada may have a concussion, but she said she was thankful they were not worse.
Fields said that the near-death experience made her realize that life goes on.
What is the reason why I'm here? The purpose was not known. What does God want me to do?
Tell us about a news story. The reporter can be contacted at lamikvs@ Insider.com.
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