--- title: Woman's AirPod Rescue Mission Takes Internet By Storm description: When one woman's AirPod was still in one piece a full day after she dropped it on the subway tracks, she had no choice but to rescue it. canonical: https://time.com/5624443/airpod-rescue-mission-thread/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-11T15:14:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:59:28.187Z og:title: Woman's Daring AirPod Rescue Mission Is a Real Journey og:description: "Omg you guys he’s still down there" og:url: https://time.com/5624443/airpod-rescue-mission-thread/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e725adc74e1cbf9/6989ffdc22fb850ceee29894/airpod-rescue-mission.jpg?branch=production&width=509&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 509 og:image:height: 286 og:image:alt: AirPod-Rescue-Mission og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Woman's Daring AirPod Rescue Mission Is a Real Journey twitter:description: "Omg you guys he’s still down there" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e725adc74e1cbf9/6989ffdc22fb850ceee29894/airpod-rescue-mission.jpg?branch=production&width=509&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Woman Chronicles Her Daring Mission to Rescue Her AirPod From Subway Tracks > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 11, 2019 3:14 PM UTC  Apple iPhone XS with AirPods and case Apple iPhone XS with AirPods and case EnDyk—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 11, 2019 3:14 PM UTC If you’ve ever dropped something onto the tracks of the [New York City subway](https://time.com/5242077/new-york-city-subway-flooding/), you know that it’s usually best to just accept that your belonging is gone forever. But when one woman’s lost [AirPod](https://time.com/5561381/apple-airpod-review/) was still in one piece a full 24 hours after she originally dropped it, she felt she had no choice but to [rescue](https://time.com/5572966/diver-thai-soccer-team-rescue-josh-bratchley/) it. In a series of tweets that have since gone viral, Twitter user Ashley Mayer recently chronicled her AirPod’s near brush with subway death and subsequent rescue a day later. “The AirPod fell out of my ear several feet away from the edge of the subway platform, but I’ve never seen anything more inevitable. RIP little buddy. Thanks for all the podcasts,” she wrote on the night of July 9 to pay tribute to her fallen friend. > [](https://twitter.com/ashleymayer/status/1148737021059448832) However, after returning to the same platform the next night, Mayer realized that her AirPod was still on the tracks and sprung into action. “Omg you guys he’s still down there,” she tweeted on July 10\. “I think I need to rescue him (Don’t worry I won’t jump down there.)” > [](https://twitter.com/ashleymayer/status/1149104010634379265) Mayer then went to the store for supplies she could use to fashion a rescue device — i.e., a broom and duct tape — and after navigating a full subway platform, managed to retrieve her “little buddy.” > [](https://twitter.com/ashleymayer/status/1149106158717820929) > [](https://twitter.com/ashleymayer/status/1149110986168651776) “He’s filthy but he’s mine (again)!” she wrote. “AirPod has been thoroughly cleaned and is now recharging (literally, figuratively). Please send thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.” > [](https://twitter.com/ashleymayer/status/1149117080932933638) And after all was said and done, the AirPod apparently worked like new. “I dedicate this selfie to the germaphobes. (You may be onto something, guess we’ll see!)” she captioned a photo of her wearing both AirPods again. “Verdict: he’s working wonderfully.” > [](https://twitter.com/ashleymayer/status/1149134615845711872) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5624443/airpod-rescue-mission-thread/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5624443/airpod-rescue-mission-thread/"},"headline":"Woman Chronicles Her Daring Mission to Rescue Her AirPod From Subway Tracks","datePublished":"2019-07-11T15:14:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:59:28.187Z","description":"\"Omg you guys he’s still down there\"","url":"https://time.com/5624443/airpod-rescue-mission-thread/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Technology","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e725adc74e1cbf9/6989ffdc22fb850ceee29894/airpod-rescue-mission.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e725adc74e1cbf9/6989ffdc22fb850ceee29894/airpod-rescue-mission.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AirPod-Rescue-Mission","caption":"Apple iPhone XS with AirPods and case","creditText":"EnDyk—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5624443/airpod-rescue-mission-thread/","name":"Woman Chronicles Her Daring Mission to Rescue Her AirPod From Subway Tracks"}}]}] ```