Nine year old saves dying family by unlocking dad's iPhone with his face

A quick-thinking 9-year old girl from Brockton, Mass. might have saved her family from death by using her unconscious dad's face to unlock his iPhone. As Jayline Barbosa's family was passing out from carbon monoxide poisoning, Jayline calmly grabbed her dad's iPhone to call for help but couldn't do so because it was locked. "So I unlocked it by using my dad's face," she said.

Even though her father was passed out at the time, Face ID worked allowing Jayline to unlock her father's iPhone and call for help. When emergency services arrived, they found that the amount of carbon monoxide inside the house, which came from a generator, was measured at over 1000 parts per million which is considered a potentially fatal level.

Her mother awoke in the hospital noting that her daughter had saved her life. "Oh yes she did," Jayline's mom said. "I wouldn't be here if she wasn't in the house. She was so smart." The fourth-grader was sleeping when the sound of her father calling for help woke her up; he had just witnessed his wife passing out and he lost consciousness soon afterward. Five members of the family, including Jayline's seven-year-old sister, were taken to the hospital and all recovered.

Jayline's dad might have (luckily as it turned out) had the "Require Attention for Face ID" toggle off which allowed his daughter to unlock his phone without his eyes being open and looking at the screen. It's unlikely that Jayline would have known about this feature and even if she did, a passcode is required to go into Face ID settings.

A generator isn't exactly high-tech, but for the well-being of our readers, the National Weather Service says that generators should not be used within 20 feet of any doors, windows, and vents. And a working carbon monoxide detector is recommended.