US News

iPhone saves soldier’s life in Afghanistan bombing

We’ve heard of Bibles stopping bullets, but an American soldier has said his iPhone saved his life after it blocked flying shrapnel from a suicide bomber.

News website KSL reports the iPhone 5s was in Staff Sgt. Shaun Frank’s pocket when he came face-to-face with a teenage bomber in Afghanistan who triggered a bomb filled with ball bearings. Thanks to the iPhone’s metal body, it was able to keep several bits of shrapnel from piercing his body.

As expected, there isn’t much left of the phone, with the screen shattered and a metal-bending exit hole protruding from the aluminium back.

Frank still suffered several wounds from the blast, but his sister, Alisha Lantz, said: “They did tell him when he got back to base that the iPhone probably saved his life.”

In a further twist to this story, Frank has been months without a cellphone as Apple is refusing to replace the now-broken iPhone if he keeps the old handset as a memento. When he sent the phone to Apple, the company said he could either keep the broken iPhone or get a replacement, but not both.

As this potentially life-saving piece of gear serves as a reminder of his close call, Frank decided to keep it.

Apple was contacted and said it was looking into the situation but later declined to comment.

This article originally appeared in news.com.au.