A woman says her Apple Watch saved her life after it alerted her, which led her to an astonishing discovery – an undiagnosed life-threatening heart condition…
Elaine Thompson, a 59-year-old from Gateshead in England, was recommended to wear an Apple Watch by her daughter to monitor her health, given that she had suffered from seizures back in 2018.
She became concerned when the Apple Watch alerted her about an irregular heart rhythm. She then decided to visit her cardiologist, according to a report from the Independent.
She was given a heart monitor for a week, which in turn showed that during sleep, she had flatlined for an alarming 19 seconds. She was immediately taken to the hospital and doctors diagnosed Thompson with a heart block, with which a pacemaker was installed to help with her condition.
She says that she could have died if not for her Apple Watch.
Medical History
Elaine Thompson’s medical history revealed she underwent treatment for epilepsy after she began suffering seizures in April 2018, but hospital tests did not detect any underlying conditions.
Her 39-year-old daughter Ashleigh suggested she wear an Apple Watch to serve as her heart rate monitor in February 2022. She said one day she was alerted upon waking up, advising her to see a doctor. She went and showed the doctor her results that the watch had recorded.
As there was a wait-list for a heart monitor, she was finally fitted with one in November, but by January 2023, the hospital was urgently trying to contact her about her results and the harrowing flatline. Doctors diagnosed her with an atrioventricular block, and the very next day she was fitted with a pacemaker, which she will have for life.
Apple Watch ECG App
Based from the images in the report, it shows that Thompson is wearing an older-style Apple Watch, meaning you don’t even need the best and latest Apple Watch in order to protect yourself from serious medical conditions.
The Apple Watch Series 4 and later versions include an electrocardiogram (ECG) app that can detect irregular heart rhythms. The app will save the classification, waveform and any other notable symptoms within the Health app on the user’s iPhone so they can easily share it as a PDF with their doctor.
The new Apple Watch Series 8 was first unveiled in 2022 during Apple’s Far Out event on September 7, alongside the iPhone 14 series and the AirPods Pro 2. The Apple Watch Ultra went on sale at a slightly later date – on September 23.
Image: Gulf Business