Tally another life saved for the Apple Watch, as it alerted an owner’s life, by alerting them to a racing pulse after a nap, leading to the diagnosis of severe internal bleeding. The Apple Watch provides a number of health-related alerts, including some related to pulse rate.
Reddit user “digitalmofo” posted on Thursday in the r/AppleWatch subreddit entitled “Well, my Apple Watch 7 just saved my life.” The post recounted how Apple’s wearable alerted the user of a medical issue.
The alert took place one week earlier. The user had set their iPhone and Apple Watch to Do Not Disturb for work, and felt tired at lunch, so they took a “quick nap” on the couch. Following the nap, the user saw 10 notifications on their Apple Watch about a racing pulse.
The Redditor then called out from work for the rest of the day to try and attempted to reduce the racing pulse, but nothing worked. A video call with their doctor prompted the user to check the times and pulse rates, as well as their oxygen level, with the doctor making the decision to call 911.
The user says the issue was “severe internal bleeding,” with them also reportedly having “little over 3g/dL hemoglobin” (grams per deciliter), far below their normal of 15. The emergency medical staff initially believed the user had experienced a heart attack, before determining it was a GI bleed.
A later follow-up post user explains they lost five pints of blood, with an endoscopy revealing a diagnosis of esophagitis, gastritis, duodenitis, and a hiatal hernia.
“They said had I not got there for a transfusion when I did, I’d not have made it,” the user added, before offering thanks to the nurses, doctors, blood donors, and everyone involved in the emergency. The post concludes with the user saying “I’d have just passed out and died without ever knowing if not for my Apple Watch.”
The Apple Watch has a history of saving lives, whether it’s via the device’s health features or its accident detection features. In January, a woman’s Apple Watch saved her and her unborn baby’s life by alerting her of an unusually high heart rate.
(Via AppleInsider)
