A user on Reddit has shared an incredible story on how the Apple Watch helped save their mom’s life. According to Reddit user Xanderpy, their mom was on a business trip and staying at a hotel when she started feeling pain in her chest.
She texted a friend who was in the same hotel, and shortly after that “she collapsed to the floor face first.”
My mom was on a business trip in another state and staying in a hotel. She started to feel a pain in her chest and grew concerned. She texted her friend who was also at the hotel and asked her to come to her room (did not imply there was any emergency). Immediately after this, she collapsed to the floor face first.
When her friend arrived to the room, she found her collapsed on the floor and immediately called 911. To her surprise, dispatchers told her that an ambulance was already on the way. When the Reddit user’s mom had fallen, her Apple Watch’s fall detection feature kicked in to call emergency services on her behalf.
Those extra minutes between when the Apple Watch called 911 and when the friend arrived turned out to be crucial. When the Reddit user’s mom arrived at the hospital, doctors said she had a ruptured aorta and one of the keys to treatment was immediate transport to the hospital:
A couple minutes later, her friend came to her room, found her collapsed on the ground and called 911. When doing this, they stated an ambulance was already on the way. Turns out my mom had a ruptured aorta and the situation was so bad that it took an insane set of circumstances for her to make it through, including the incredibly fast transport to the hospital.
Fast forward to a few days later when she awoke from surgery (plus a couple days since she was on feeding/breathing tubes at first) and we asked if she called 911 before she collapsed. She did not. We found out that her watch actually called 911 after the fall and not detecting movement.
Reflecting on the situation, the Reddit user says that they have a newfound respect for the health features of the Apple Watch:
I see stories like this sometimes and think that they are exaggerated for publicity or possibly just made up. I obviously no longer think this. Apple technology has a firm grip on me and my entire family already but this… this was something else. This made me an Apple user for life and showed me that technology like this can truly save lives.
In this specific instance, the Apple Watch’s fall detection was the feature that kicked in to help save a life. You can learn more about how to enable that feature in our full guide.
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