David Fitzherbert, 52, was skiing off-trail in Switzerland when the snow gave way and he fell 70 feet into a crevasse. The only thing that saved him from plunging a further 700 feet was the BlackBerry phone in his pocket which became wedged between the sides. It kept him stuck there for two hours until he was rescued by climbers.

Remarkably, the Blackberry still worked afterward.

(Read more in the UK Telegraph)

Watching the Lakers win the national basketball title recently, I began to count the ways that Phil Jackson is a model for youth coaches everywhere, and how we can all learn to live better lives by following his example:

1) He builds others’ self-confidence -Trevor Ariza, who came up big in the playoffs, said he knew he wasn’t going to get pulled from the game if he missed a shot, which fueled his confidence to keep playing hard.  Jackson’s players don’t tighten up in the clutch, worried about what will happen if they miss. They play to win, not to avoid looking bad. Players don’t do that if they are worrying about their coach giving up on them.

2) He develops players as leaders – Michael Jordan never won a title until Phil showed him how to make his teammates better. And now even those who called Kobe Bryant the most selfish player in the NBA, can see how Bryant has grown under Phil as a leader who makes his teammates better.