While Apple Watches can do just about anything these days, from alerting you of a text message to recording the number of steps you take each day, one woman says her life was actually saved by the gadget.
Judith Luebke, from Oklahoma, has recounted how her Apple Watch was able to pick up on a heart issue that she knew nothing about, saying that if she hadn’t received an alert from her wrist, she might have died.
She even wrote to the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, to detail her terrifying near-miss, with the company’s chief expressing his pleasure that his tech had notified her of the condition, according to KSWO.
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One evening in 2021, Judith’s Apple Watch detected her extremely fast and irregular heartbeat, a condition known as AFib or atrial fibrillation.
The condition is not life-threatening although often requires medical treatment, but Judith discovered later that it could have proved potentially fatal.
The following morning, she talked to her boss where she debated going to see a doctor about the alert, with a work meeting sticking out in her mind as a reason to put off the visit.
However, Judith said her boss insisted that she visit a doctor immediately.
She drove straight to the hospital where she was informed that she was diabetic, a condition she was completely unaware she had at the time.
Judith also reportedly discovered that she had critically high sugar levels which could have proved fatal alongside her diabetic condition.
"If I had waited the weekend, I probably would not have survived," she told KSWO.
"That’s what I would’ve done if I’d not gotten the notification on my watch. I just figured with everything going on, I just wasn’t feeling good, and I’ll get to the doctor when I get to the doctor."
Her daughter, Shannon Bowers, also told KSWO that “if it hadn’t been for the watch” or those at her mother’s work encouraging her to seek medical attention, “she wouldn’t be here”.
Luckily, Judith received the treatment she needed and later acknowledged how the Apple Watch had saved her life.
There you go - so not just a fashion accessory, a smartwatch could actually save your life as well. At the very least, it'll remind you to get your steps in.