Recently, stories about Apple Watch saving people’s lives have been popping up more than ever. This time, William Rogers from Somersworth, New Hampshire said that Apple’s smartwatch saved his life when he used it to call 911 after he fell into the Salmon Falls River when the ice broke.
Apple Watch has a feature called Emergency SOS that automatically calls local emergency services when the user asks Siri or if it detects that the user has taken a fall. The feature works by sounding an alarm if it detects a fall and notifies the user to check if they are okay. If the smartwatch does not detect any movement, it automatically calls emergency services and sends a user’s location to first responders.
Apple Watch helped save the life of New Hampshire man who fell through ice
As reported by local TV channel WMUR, Rogers, a seasoned skater, was skating on the frozen surface of the Salmon Falls River when the ice broke and he found himself submerged in the freezing cold water. Rodgers said he tried to “walrus up” up the ice using his own strength, but the ice kept breaking as he did.
“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,” Rogers said. No one was around and he couldn’t reach his phone. He was in the water for several minutes as hypothermia started setting in. “I remember telling myself, ‘OK, don’t panic. Don’t panic. Figure out what your options are here,’” Rogers said.
After struggling in the icy waters for several minutes, the fact that it was not possible to climb up through the hole starting setting in for Rogers, and soon, hypothermia began setting in. If he reached for his phone, he would lose his group. Furthermore, he estimated that he had about 10 minutes before his body temperate would drop below normal.
Rogers then realized that he was wearing his Apple Watch and he could call someone without touching his phone. He quickly contacted emergency services and told them he probably had 10 minutes before he would stop responding. Luckily, the fire brigade came to his rescue in 5 minutes and pulled him to safety.
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