Shouldn‘t it automatically switch to SMS if the recipient has not an Android?
I never use iMessage or SMS, so I actually don‘t know 😅

I‘m always amazed how people drop phones from no real height and they look like some car drove over it.
I use the leather case for years now and dropped my phone countless times and never had any issues…

What did you drop it onto?
A workbench where someone was hammering stuff?