A 71-year-old Swedish man “can’t put into words” how thankful he is for the new technology that quickly flew him into the small category of only ten percent of people who survive sudden heart stopping.

The man now has made a full recovery and returned home, after the speedy delivery of a defibrillator(除颤器)—via autonomous drone(无人驾驶飞机). The company behind the drone pilot project says it’s the first time in medical history, a drone has played an important part in saving a life during a heart stopping.

He was in his driveway when the attack happened. Normally, you have about ten minutes to get help in such a situation. Luckily, a telephone call was immediately placed requesting emergency services and he lived in a region that had partnered with Everdrone’s innovative life-saving programme called EMADE (Emergency Medical Aerial Delivery service). EMADE drones delivered a defibrillator to the scene—and the amount of time from the alarm(警报) until the defibrillator was safely delivered at the doorstep of the incident address was just over three minutes.

Even luckier, a doctor happened to be driving by and stopped to see if he could help. “I was on my way to work at the local hospital when I saw a man collapsed in his driveway and I immediately rushed to help,” says Dr. Mustafa Ali. After the ambulance arrived, the patient was rushed to the hospital.

The man said, “If it wasn’t for the drone I probably wouldn’t be here.”

275,000 patients in Europe and 350,000 in the US, suffer from heart stopping annually. About 70% of heart stopping occur in private homes without defibrillators on site. The chance of survival decreases by 7%—10% with each minute following the collapse(突然倒下)—and as a result, the current survival rate among heart stopping patients is merely 10%.

Poet William Stafford once said that we are defined more by the detours in life than by the narrow road toward goals. I like this image. But it was quite by accident that I discovered the deep meaning of his words.

For years we made the long drive from our home in Seattle to my parents’ home in Boise in nine hours. We traveled the way most people do: the fastest, shortest, easiest road, especially when I was alone with four noisy, restless kids who hate confinement(限制) and have strong opinions about everything.

Road trips felt risky, so I would drive fast, stopping only when I had to. We would stick to the freeways and arrive tired.

But then Banner, our lamb was born. He was rejected by his mama days before our planned trip to Boise. I had two choices: leave Banner with my husband, or take him with me. My husband made the decision for me.

That is how I found myself on the road with four kids, a baby lamb and nothing but my everlasting optimism to see me through. We took the country roads out of necessity. We had to stop every hour, let Banner shake out his legs and feed him. The kids chased him and one another. They’d get back in the car breathless and energized, smelling fresh from the cold air.

We explored side roads, catching grasshoppers in waist-high grass. Even if we simply looked out of the car windows at baby pigs following their mother, or fish leaping out of the water, it was better than the best ride down the freeway. Here was life. And new horizons.

We eventually arrived at my parents' doorstep astonishingly fresh and full of stories.

I grew brave with the trip back home and creative with my disciplining technique. On an empty section of road, everyone started quarreling. I stopped the car, ordered all kids out and told them to meet me up ahead. I parked my car half a mile away and read my book in sweet silence.

Some road trips are by necessity fast and straight. But that trip with Banner opened our eyes to a world available to anyone adventurous enough to wander around and made me realize that a detour may uncover the best part of a journey — and the best part of yourself.