Apple Watch Saves Another Man's Life

Lost in the world of pundits calling the Apple Watch a flop are amazing stories of people who’s lives have saved by Apple’s first ever Watch.

In today’s case, a 62-year-old builder named Dennis Anselmo, was rushed the ambulance when he realized that his heart rate was pushing over 200 beats per minute.

Anselmo told The Sun that he was building a fence when when he started feeling like he had flu-like symptoms:

I was building a fence placing posts in the ground. We finished lunch at 1.15 and was back to work. I felt terrible—like I had a really bad flu. I worked for maybe ten minutes but said to my helper I need to sit down.

So I sat on a trailer for a couple of minutes and was planning to go home—I felt all over the place. As I sat there I started to fiddle with my Apple Watch.

I had only had it two weeks and had become obsessed with checking my pulse on it. I have a very low pulse normally—about 50. Most people are 55 to 75. I brought it up, and it was 210 bpm.

I turned to my helper and said: We need an ambulance. They came out, figured out I was having a heart attack and I was off to hospital. They cleared the blockages so I didn’t have another attack.

They told me that if I had gone home and gone to bed—as many people do—I would likely have had another, more serious bout in the middle of the night. Those second attacks are the ones that kill. That is a common problem.

Currently, the Apple Watch isn’t proactively telling you your heart rate. Instead, it is up to the wearer to bring up the heart rate monitor when he or she feels like getting the information.

However, in the future don’t be surprised if the Apple Watch starts to warn you if your heart rate is abnormal. In fact, Apple has filed patents for this exact idea.

It’s funny. We’re all very quick to complain about things like apps and such, but the truth is that the future of the Apple Watch will have little do with games and apps on your Watch. Health is the long-term goal here. Tim Cook even eluded to it in his interview with Charlie Rose.

But hey, lets focus on Apple selling only 12 million units in a year, right?