An Oregon man who was trapped under a boulder about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle used his wireless earbuds to place a call for help, police and the man’s mother said.

The man, Joseph Little, 28, had been fishing at the Hammond Marina in Warrenton, Oregon, about 90 miles northwest of Portland, on Sept. 26. He was balanced atop an uneven band of rocks jutting into the Columbia River around sunrise.

A boulder dislodged and pinned Little’s torso and legs to the jetty, said Sgt. Dylan McCoy of the Warrenton Police Department. McCoy did not know the weight of the boulder, but he estimated it was a “literal ton.”

McCoy noted that the boulder fell on Little near where high tide rushes over the rocks, and that Little could have drowned had help not arrived in time.

Little’s mother, Mindy Little, said on social media that her son could not reach his phone to call for help.

“It’s a miracle my son’s alive,” she told TV station KOIN.

“He had those earbuds that go around his neck, and he was able to use Siri to call for help,” she said, referring to Apple’s digital assistant that responds to voice commands.

Mindy Little could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday.

Joseph Little was in severe pain and underwent facial reconstruction surgery to repair numerous bones fractured in his face, his mother wrote.

An emergency dispatcher notified McCoy around 7 a.m. about Little’s entrapment.

McCoy arrived at Hammond Marina, which stretches across 60 acres and is a popular site for fishing and storing boats, and called out for Little but did not hear a response.

To speed up his search, McCoy flew a drone and spotted Little about three minutes later, about 400 feet from the shoreline, his face covered with blood.

Drone footage shows a slate-colored boulder covering Little, whose hands were free.

The weight of the boulder prevented rescuers from lifting it. Firefighters devised a plan to shift the rocks under Little so he could wiggle out, McCoy said.

Members of the Warrenton Fire Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday, could not safely carry Little out because they were balanced atop a narrow strip of rocks.

The U.S. Coast Guard was called to airlift him.

An MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria arrived about 8:50 a.m. and hoisted Little aboard. He was taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Oregon.

Mindy Little wrote on social media Monday that her son, with support, was able to shower.

“After everything his body has been through, being able to get up and do something as simple as shower feels like a huge step forward,” she wrote.

It was unknown how the boulder became dislodged or why it fell when it did.

“But what we do know is that it fell in a way that somehow did not cause internal bleeding or take him from us,” she wrote.

McCoy said the ocean often batters the jetty, which could pry rocks loose. The Coast Guard warned that jetties and breakwaters are often slippery and uneven. The boulders can move as waves break against them, which can cause a person to fall, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

“One day, Joseph will be able to speak about the journey he has been through,” Mindy Little wrote. “Until then, we will help him take it one day at a time, minute by minute, second by second, healing at his pace.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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