A random weekend alone left one man with an idea – go hiking in a nearby forest.

What the father of four didn’t know was that simple choice would lead to a day he’d never forget. It also showed him how being in the wrong place at the wrong time can sometimes end up with you being exactly where you are needed.

Casey Ryan, a photographer in Eugene, Ore., had some time to himself. His children, along with his wife, were out of the country visiting Uganda in East Africa.

So Ryan called a friend (who has chosen to remain anonymous) and the pair decided to head to the Willamette National Forest. 

They began the 60-mile drive through the forest. Roads are often unplowed, and little vehicle traffic goes through the area.

Ryan had been through the area many times, he told reporters for Oregon Live. He wasn’t alarmed by the road conditions.

But then Ryan and his friend encountered roads that were starting to become harder to make it through, they considered turning around. Unsure if that would make things worse, Ryan continued on. And to their shock, they came across a van that was stuck in the snow. They stopped and a woman climbed out.

“She was excited to see someone,” he said. “She said she’d been stuck there overnight.” After attempting to get the woman’s van free from snow, his own truck got stuck as well.

I was overconfident,” Ryan said. “I backed into a spot to line up with her van, and the snow was thicker than I realized.”

“The temperature was falling,” he said. “The snow was coming down like ice.” And as Ryan soon found out, there was no cell service to call for help.

“The other option was maybe somebody else is coming up here,” he said. “But it’s Sunday night, the sun has gone down, and I know no one is coming up here in the next few days.”

Suddenly Ryan had an idea – why not use his drone, typically used for photography, and have it carry his cell phone high enough for it to get a signal?

A man’s ingenuity saved his life when he attached his phone to a drone to summon help after getting stranded in a snowbound Oregon forest (re-enactment pictured). Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue

He quickly typed a message to his wife, who was thousands of miles away.

The message:

I’m sending my phone in the sky with my drone. I hope this message gets through. This isn’t an emergency. We are okay, but we are stuck 25 miles in the mountains directly at Box Canyon.…

I love you and I’m so sorry this has happened. We are okay. We are safe. Send a tow. Call AAA.

“I held the phone in my hand,” he said. “I figured I could attach it to the drone with a cord. I wrapped a paper towel around the phone, taped it and it seemed like it might work.”

He sent the drone up, about 300 feet into the night sky.

“It was to the point where I could almost not see the drone and that phone,” he said. “I was nervous.”

The first attempt came back with the message undelivered. But the second time was a charm.

“I’ve been advised to call 911. I did,” his wife had written back. “But it will also be tomorrow in the daytime before they can make it.”

At first local officials were confused – the call they got came from Africa, not Oregon. But they new they had to go and check out the situation, regardless. It was only when they found the three people that they learned about Ryan’s ingenious use of the drone.

“My wife is the real hero,” said Ryan. “She was coordinating everything from Africa.”

Law enforcement said that Ryan made several ‘smart decisions’ that day, from staying with his vehicle for warmth, not wandering off, and finding a “creative” way to get help.

Watch the amazing video of this unique rescue, below. Comment and let us know how you might have handled this situation yourself. 

Sources: Oregon Live | NYPost | BBC