Man says Apple watch 'saved his life' after bike crash that left him 'looking like monster'
A man has revealed how his Apple Watch 'saved his life' when a bike accident left him 'looking like a monster'.
Eric Zollinger, 49, from New York, had been cycling home from work when he hit an eight-inch-deep pothole.
The impact caused him to fly off his bike, smacking his face on the concrete.
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In total shock, Eric walked his bike to his apartment to assess the full damage.
He looked at his bruised face in the mirror and was about to jump in the shower when he suffered a severe nose bleed, resulting in him becoming dizzy and fainting.
The next thing Eric remembers is waking up to the sound of a 911 operator speaking to him through his watch and prompting him to go to hospital to be checked out.
Apple Watches have a detection setting that can identify when you fall. If it detects a hard fall, the watch will connect to the emergency services.
Apple explain: "If Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 4 or later, or Apple Watch Ultra or later detects a hard fall while you’re wearing your watch, it will tap you on the wrist, sound an alarm and display an alert.
"You can choose to contact the emergency services, or dismiss the alert by pressing the Digital Crown, tapping Close in the top left-hand corner or tapping 'I'm OK'.
"If your Apple Watch detects that you’re moving, it will wait for you to respond to the alert and won’t call the emergency services automatically. If your watch detects that you’ve been immobile for about a minute, it will make the call automatically."
It's important to remember to enable Wrist Detection for this feature to work. You can read more on how to do that here.
Eric now credits the clever tech with saving his life.
"I ended up falling in the shower and my Apple Watch hit the side of the tub and because of the impact called 911 and alerted my emergency contacts with a map telling them my exact location," he said.
"It's very clever of the watch. Apple thinks of everything.
"I don't relish in things that didn't happen, but I don't know how things would have gone for me lay unconscious it the watch hadn't alerted me.
"I feel very fortunate and grateful at what transpired and happened in how my Apple Watch helped me."
After canceling his 911 call, Eric went straight to hospital.
He says the impact left him looking 'like a monster' for two weeks and stayed at home for days while he healed.
"I looked like a monster and didn't leave my apartment for three days after the incident," he said.
"I still have a bit of swelling on my face but after two weeks all the bruising had gone."
Topics: Technology, US News, Health
Lucy Devine