Apple Watch alert saves man's life by detecting undiagnosed health problem

Apple Watch ECG feature
(Image credit: iMore)

A man says that he would "not have made it" if he hadn't been rushed to the hospital after his Apple Watch detected an unusual heart rate.

The man says that he was asleep when his Apple Watch sent him at least 10 notifications that his heart was beating faster than it should.

After speaking with his doctor the man was taken to the hospital where it was discovered that he was suffering from internal bleeding.

Lifesaving technology on your wrist

well_my_apple_watch_7_just_saved_my_life from r/AppleWatch

Redditor u/digitalmofo said in a post to the social network that he spoke to his doctor via a video call and was told to check the times of the Apple Watch's alerts and the heart rates that it reported. He also had him check his blood oxygen levels, something wearables like the Apple Watch Series 8 can do.

The doctor reportedly called 911 and after initially being diagnosed as suffering from a heart attack the man was told that he had internal bleeding. "They said had I not got there for a transfusion when I did, I'd not have made it," the man recounted.

He went on to say that he'd "have just passed out and died without ever knowing" if it wasn't for the Apple Watch alerts he received while sleeping.

Thankfully you don't need to have Apple's best Apple Watch strapped to your wrist for heart rate notifications to work. Models from the Apple Watch Series 1 and on are all capable of alerting wearers when their heart rate is fast or too slow, meaning the model you own is more than likely good to go.

Health monitoring and tracking is one of the biggest reasons some people wear an Apple Watch and stories like this one, where someone's life was saved by their watch, are great examples of why that is the case.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.