The 911 call from the Apple Watch literally saved this man’s life just in the nick of time after he fell into a frozen river.
There are many stories about the Apple Watch saving people’s lives, just like Bob who was gifted an Apple Watch by his wife, which alerted him that his heart rate readings were unusually high even while at rest, and thanks to this information, doctors discovered he had cardiac arrhythmia. Bob then underwent a successful heart surgery.
The Apple Watch did it again, and this time it helped save William Rogers, a resident in Somersworth, New Hampshire. He fell through the ice on Sunday, and he managed to get out of his icy predicament thanks to his Apple Watch immediately calling for help.
Local TV channel WMUR said that Rogers has been teaching ice skating his whole life. On Sunday, he was skating on the frozen Salmon Falls River in Somersworth when the ice broke. He was in the water for several minutes and tried to get out by himself. He tried to be calm, but he described the feeling of sinking into the freezing water as “terrible”.
Rogers said, “First thing I did was try to walrus up on the ice knowing that I needed to get out of the water as quickly as possible and the ice just kept breaking underneath me.”
He couldn’t reach his phone and nobody was around. A few minutes went by and hypothermia started setting in. “I remember telling myself, ‘OK, don’t panic. Don’t panic. Figure out what your options are here.”
He then remembered he was wearing his Apple Watch. He immediately asked the watch to call 911, which definitely helped saved his life that day. Rogers said on the line, “I told them that I probably had 10 minutes before I was not gonna be able to respond anymore.”
Firefighters were able to get there in five minutes and were able to pull Rogers out.
Rogers said, “I’m really grateful for them. So, thank those folks. I thank them.”
Chief George Kramlinger of the Somersworth Fire Department said, “He kept his wits about him. He remained calm and he did what he had to do to ensure his survival. This time of year, firefighters say going on ice is a gamble, especially over rivers. It’s just really a dangerous situation getting on the ice and like I said, at this point, no ice is safe.”
Rogers said, “Don’t go onto the ice unless you know exactly how thick it is.”
The Apple Watch is equipped with an emergency call feature and it can also call emergency services if it detects a fall and the wearer does not respond within a minute, or dialing 911 after a car crash. The watch also has other life-saving features including a heart rate monitor and ECG that helps users identify potential heart ailments.