Exception to the rule???

When we talk about pronouns and possessive adjectives with someone, somebody, anyone, anybody, no one, and nobody, we all have in mind that they take singular personal pronouns (he/she) and possessive adjectives (him/her).

1) When somebody feels thet need...

Based on the stated above, we could complete the sentence as:

1.1) When somebody feels the need, he / she contacts the emergency service.

However, to avoid the awkwardness of saying his or her when the gender in unknown, we resort to they and their instead:

1.2) When somebody feels the need, they contact the emergency service.

We can clearly see that both 1.1 and 1.2 are possible; nevertheless, would any of the two be an exception to the rule? Which of them would be the rule?

That's still an unsolved question... have you any idea?

Thanks!