Father and son rescued from Leitrim Road brush using location-sharing app What3Words

A man and his 16-year-old son were trapped in thick brush and fallen trees near Leitrim Road on October 3 when the sun began to set. They called 911 and used the What3Words app to share their location — each app-generated three-word code identifies a 3-metre square anywhere in the world.

Ottawa Police located the pair's vehicle, worked with a communicator to obtain the What3Words coordinates from the caller, and sent a rescue team. The officers pushed through mud and rough vegetation to reach them.

"I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they use the What3Words application, and I gave her our position information as soon as she asked for it," the father said in a police release. "A little while later, we saw the police officers who came to our rescue. We could tell that they'd gone through a lot of mud and rough vegetation to reach us."

The officers escorted both back to Leitrim Road where their vehicles were waiting. Ottawa Police are now recommending residents download What3Words before hiking, snowshoeing, and winter activities.