‘Most Powerful’ Tweets Include Bike Crash Rescue

A Connecticut woman’s Tweet for emergency help after she crashed her bike in the woods was named one of the “most powerful” Tweets for 2010 by  Twitter. Leigh Fazzina was competing in a triathlon last July when she became lost during the bike leg, and then flipped when she hit a rock. Off-trial and with no passersby, she crawled to her Blackberry and tried calling her cousin, but couldn’t make a voice connection. She then resorted to her Twitter friends, both within and outside Connecticut, who called the local police and fire departments. Fazzina was rescued and recovered with no serious injuries. On her blog, Fazzina told her readers, “Twitter. Never underestimate its viral engaging power. Ever. Please, just don’t ever do it.” Fazzina didn’t mention the availability of 911 in her lengthy blog or why she never considered dialing the number for help. Cellular carrier coverage maps show the area of the bike race has the highest level of wireless signal coverage. After telling her story Fazzina concluded, “If anything is learned from this its that texting and Internet use can work when a phone call on a mobile phone can’t get through.”