Michigan woman's Apple Watch spots she'd had a heart attack without knowing

Apple Watch heart rate
Apple Watch heart rate (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • A Michigan woman was alerted to an unusually high heart rate after she'd had a heart attack without realizing it.
  • The woman is now doing fine after having a stent fitted.

A Norton Shores, Michigan woman has credited her Apple Watch with detecting a heart condition after she had a heart attack without realizing it. The woman's heart rate was 169 beats per minute despite not having carried out any exercise.

According to local reports, Diane Feenstra's Apple Watch noticed the high heart rate and it was only then that she realized something was amiss. Having previously ignored the pain in her shoulder and left hand as well as chest pain, the woman called her doctor. She was sent for an EKG which is when the severity of the situation was made clear.

After days of analysis it was determined she had a full blockage in what's known as the Widow maker artery.A stent procedure was done and today she is thriving."The heart is building up it's stamina and I am so happy," said Feenstra.

The Apple Watch was a gift from the woman's husband who she had also given an Apple Watch to a month prior. It's fair to say that's one birthday gift that has already repaid the investment.

Watches like Apple Watch Seris 6 have been shown to save lives on more than a few occasions and this is another example of how vital they can be. Thinking of adding one to your wrist, or buying one for a loved one? Check out these Apple Watch deals before you do.

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.