--- title: Hero Catches a Stranger's Phone While Riding Roller Coaster description: A New Zealand man skillfully caught a stranger's phone while riding a thrilling roller coaster at a Barcelona theme park. canonical: https://time.com/5669704/man-catches-phone-while-riding-roller-coaster/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-05T14:34:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:00:10.328Z og:title: Watch Man Catch Stranger's Phone While Riding Roller Coaster og:description: What, like it's hard? og:url: https://time.com/5669704/man-catches-phone-while-riding-roller-coaster/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8eaaff8ec1ffd514/698a026f86f68e48236ed86b/man-catches-strangers-phone-on-roller-coaster.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: People Enjoy Bank Holiday Monday At Thorpe Park og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Man Catch Stranger's Phone While Riding Roller Coaster twitter:description: What, like it's hard? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8eaaff8ec1ffd514/698a026f86f68e48236ed86b/man-catches-strangers-phone-on-roller-coaster.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hero Catches a Stranger's Phone Mid-Air While Riding a Roller Coaster > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d04915d0-caff-4681-9438-3d8cc14c215e&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Daily | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Richard Hall, Editor | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The informed consumer. A scaled audience of readers who turn to TIME to stay informed and make sense of the world, with meaningful reach across education and research, nonprofits and civic life, media and communications, government and public institutions, and business and professional services. ### TIME The Brief: key statements * The Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * The Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d04915d0-caff-4681-9438-3d8cc14c215e&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/subscribe?i=d04915d0-caff-4681-9438-3d8cc14c215e&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's daily news newsletter? The Brief is TIME's daily newsletter, edited by Richard Hall. It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 5, 2019 2:34 PM UTC  CHERTSEY, ENGLAND - APRIL 17: People ride the new Stealth rollercoaster at Thorpe Park on April 17, 2006 in Chertsey, England. Thousands of people flocked to see the new Rollercoaster 'Stealth' as the latest addition to Thorpe Park.Stealth is hailed to be the fastest and tallest launch rollercoaster in Europe, travelling to dizzying heights of 205ft on the ride that accelerates from 0-80mph in 2.3 seconds. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) CHERTSEY, ENGLAND - APRIL 17: People ride the new Stealth rollercoaster at Thorpe Park on April 17, 2006 in Chertsey, England. Thousands of people flocked to see the new Rollercoaster 'Stealth' as the latest addition to Thorpe Park.Stealth is hailed to be the fastest and tallest launch rollercoaster in Europe, travelling to dizzying heights of 205ft on the ride that accelerates from 0-80mph in 2.3 seconds. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 5, 2019 2:34 PM UTC If you need more thrills, consider performing the act of public service that a New Zealand man did at a Barcelona theme park: catching a stranger’s phone in mid-air while riding a [roller coaster.](https://time.com/5313192/roller-coaster-derail-daytona-beach/) Samuel Kempf, who was in Spain representing New Zealand in the [Fistballing World Championship](https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/sport/114339354/three-timaru-fistballers-in-countrys-first-world-championships-attempt), decided to ride a roller coaster at Barcelona’s PortAventura theme park. While on the ride, he saw that a man had dropped his phone into the bottom of his car and couldn’t pick it up. In an interview with [_Stuff New Zealand_](https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/115573939/timaru-sportsman-catches-flying-phone-on-rollercoaster), Kempf said that he joked to his brother and other riders that when the ride dropped, they should “get ready to catch,” which Kempf actually did once the ride picked up some speed. “The ride started and I totally forgot about it because I was just in the moment ’cause it was such a good ride and then after the first drop we rose up and I just saw the phone drift across my view so I reached out and managed to catch it,” he said. Once the ride ended, Kempf returned the phone to the grateful man and discovered that his incredible feat had been captured by the ride’s reaction video. Kempf’s good deed did not go unrewarded; as a token of gratitude, the man who lost his phone bought him the video of the memorable roller coaster ride. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5669704/man-catches-phone-while-riding-roller-coaster/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5669704/man-catches-phone-while-riding-roller-coaster/"},"headline":"Hero Catches a Stranger's Phone Mid-Air While Riding a Roller Coaster","datePublished":"2019-09-05T14:34:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:00:10.328Z","description":"What, like it's hard?","url":"https://time.com/5669704/man-catches-phone-while-riding-roller-coaster/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8eaaff8ec1ffd514/698a026f86f68e48236ed86b/man-catches-strangers-phone-on-roller-coaster.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8eaaff8ec1ffd514/698a026f86f68e48236ed86b/man-catches-strangers-phone-on-roller-coaster.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"People Enjoy Bank Holiday Monday At Thorpe Park","caption":"People Enjoy Bank Holiday Monday At Thorpe Park","creditText":"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/5669704/man-catches-phone-while-riding-roller-coaster/","name":"Hero Catches a Stranger's Phone Mid-Air While Riding a Roller Coaster"}}]}] ```