A soldier in Afghanistan more or less owes his life to the fact that his iPhone 5 blocked a large amount of shrapnel that came his way after a suicide bomber detonated in front of him.

Staff sergeant Shaun Frank faced off against a young suicide bomber while soldiers were trying to right a rolled vehicle. The bomber came towards the group, and despite firing on him, he was able to set off the bomb. Frank was hit by shrapnel and ball bearings in his hands, arms and legs, but a lot of it was blocked by his iPhone. That iPhone most likely saved his life.

“They did tell him when he got back to base that, that iPhone probably saved his life,” said Alisha Lantz, who is Frank’s sister.

Despite some resistance at first, Apple has even let Frank keep the damaged iPhone as a souvenir, whilst replacing it with a new one. “It’s the same phone he had previously minus a hole or two,” his sister joked.

[via BGR]