A woman was left with broken bones after her dog ran at her full speed on a walk.
Audrey Cura, 57, was out in Suffolk forest with her husband Mike when their eight-year-old cockapoo Biscuit became spooked by mountain riders and panicked.
Audrey heard a loud crack as her dog's head hit her leg, breaking her fibula and splitting her tibia.
She told The Mirror : " As I continued to put my foot down, my weight went through my tibia, splitting it through the middle.
"The cracking noise was the worst part of it - it was incredible, my husband and I knew that both of my bones were broken immediately."
Sign to our TeamDogs newsletter for your weekly dose of dog news, pictures and stories.
Mike, 57, struggled to describe their precise location to the emergency services, so used a GPS app to pinpoint her exact fall.
" I remembered that I had what3words downloaded onto my phone, so I told him to search it up," Audrey said.
" Once we'd told the ambulance our exact location, they arrived very quickly.
"It was truly an amazing thing to be able to do given there were no known roads or paths, and saved us a lot of angst and the emergency services a lot of hassle."
Whilst Biscuit was the cause of the fall, she was determined to make up for it and didn't leave Audrey's side until the ambulance arrived.
" I was given pain relief, but given the remote location of the accident, they weren't able to transport me out of there until a special trolley was delivered to pick me up, meaning I had to lay on the forest bed for a couple of hours guzzling their gas and air," Audrey explained.
Audrey ended up having surgery and now has two metal plates and nine pins in her legs, but has made a good recovery.
She said: "I am grateful to the emergency services who found me promptly and the surgeon who was brilliant at putting everything back together, because it was all quite dramatic.
"The week before my accident I considered deleting what3words off of my phone, but I am so glad I didn't, as it played a key role in helping emergency services locate me.
"I would never consider deleting the app again, and I have insisted my daughter download it as well in case she breaks down in the middle of nowhere."
What3words is used by over 85% of UK emergency services, with new data revealing that 78% of emergency services agree with the statement "what3words saves us time".
How to use what3words in an emergency
The app is free to download on both iOS and Android, and does not need an internet connection to find your current what3words address - it uses GPS.
Open the app and click the blue arrow (iOS) or compass (Android) to find the what3words address for your current location. Make sure you wait a few seconds until the GPS has settled and the blue dot is not jumping around - this will give the most accurate result.
Clearly share your what3words address with the call handler, along with any other location descriptions you may have - such as nearby roads, towns or any other landmarks you can see.
Emergency services across the UK are joining together for #KnowExactlyWhere week this week, urging the public to 'help us to help you' by downloading the free location app, what3words.
Have you been in an accident because of your dog? Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.
