What you need to know
- A New Hampshire man says his Apple Watch may have saved his life after he fell through the ice whilst skating.
- William Rogers used his Watch to call 911 and was rescued by firefighters.
A New Hampshire man credits his Apple Watch with saving his life, after calling 911 on the device when he fell through the ice on the Salmon Falls River.
From WMUR:
A local man is crediting firefighters -- and his watch -- for saving his life after he fell through ice in Somersworth over the weekend."And, of course, the hard part is thinking about my family and nobody ever wants to get a call like that," William Rogers said.The tech school teacher has been ice skating his whole life. On Sunday, he was on Salmon Falls River in Somersworth when the ice broke."It was just that terrible feeling. 'Oh my God. I'm going in the water,'" Rogers said.
Rogers said he scrambled around for a while, trying to get up above ice using his own strength, but that the ice just kept breaking as he did. Then he told himself not to panic as he tried to figure out what his options were:
As his breathing labored, Rogers turned to his Apple Watch."It worked. Saved my life, I think," Rogers said.He called 911.
Rogers told emergency responders he probably had 10 minutes before he stopped responding, fortunately, the fire brigade arrived in five and pulled him to safety. Firefighters cautioned taking to the ice at this time of year, saying "no ice is safe". Rogers, for one, is likely thankful he had his Apple Watch on him. Last month a Georgia man was taken into hospital and successfully treated for blood clots after his Apple Watch's heart rate monitor alerted him to a problem. Nearly all of the best Apple Watch models available come with many important life-saving features including a heart rate monitor, ECG, and tools for contacting the emergency services.
