--- title: Australia: Phone Saves Man's Life in Bow and Arrow Attack description: The phone blocked an arrow shot at him as he tried to film his attacker canonical: https://time.com/5551201/australia-cell-phone-arrow-attack/ author: Amy Gunia article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-14T05:04:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:01:20.550Z article:section: World og:title: Saved by the Cell: Phone Stops Arrow Attack in Australia og:description: The phone blocked an arrow shot at him as he tried to film his attacker og:url: https://time.com/5551201/australia-cell-phone-arrow-attack/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5293fdcdad0be801/698946b2656a3f5f31bd6c6d/bow-and-arrow-through-phone2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bow and arrow through phone2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Saved by the Cell: Phone Stops Arrow Attack in Australia twitter:description: The phone blocked an arrow shot at him as he tried to film his attacker twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5293fdcdad0be801/698946b2656a3f5f31bd6c6d/bow-and-arrow-through-phone2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Saved by the Cell: Mobile Phone Stops Bow and Arrow Attack in Australia by [Amy Gunia](/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Mar 14, 2019 5:04 AM CUT  Photo provided by the NSW Police Force on Mar. 14, 2019. by [Amy Gunia](/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Mar 14, 2019 5:04 AM CUT A 43-year-old Australian man’s mobile phone was the only thing that stood between him and a pointy arrow during an [attack in Australia](https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/news%5Farticle?sq%5Fcontent%5Fsrc=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGZWJpenByZC5wb2xpY2UubnN3Lmdvdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGNzU1OTAuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D "undefined") Wednesday morning, according to police. A confrontation occurred outside the man’s house in Nimbin, which is approximately 110 miles south of Brisbane. When he noticed a man, who was known to him, standing outside his house with a bow and arrow he took out his phone to videotape him, according to a statement from the New South Wales (NSW) Police Force. The attacker allegedly shot an arrow at the man, which pierced the phone. The force of the arrow caused the phone to hit the man’s chin, according to the police statement. He suffered only minor injuries that did not require medical treatment. A 39-year-old man was taken to the Nimbin Police Station, where he was charged with armed with intent to commit an indictable offense, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and malicious damage, according to the police statement. 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