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Apple Shares Heartfelt 'Real Stories' From Apple Watch Wearers in Latest Videos

Apple today shared a pair of heartfelt videos titled Real Stories and Real Stories: Michael on its YouTube channel.

apple watch real stories featured
The first video focuses on the Apple Watch's potential to save lives, including a man who crashed while kitesurfing and used his Apple Watch to call his son, a 13-year-old boy whose Apple Watch alerted him to an elevated heart rate, a mother in a car crash who called 911 from her Apple Watch, and a man with blood clots.

"People reach out to Apple all the time to share how Apple Watch has become an indispensable part of their lives," said Apple in the Real Stories video description. "Here are some of their stories."


The second video highlights the story of Michael Jackson, from Duluth, Minnesota, who was born with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy. One night, he was woken up by an Apple Watch notification about an elevated heart rate, rushed to the emergency room, and found to have sepsis, a potentially fatal condition.

"Many people reach out to Apple to share how receiving heart rate notifications on Apple Watch has helped them recognize and react to serious conditions," the second video description reads. "Here is Michael's story."


The videos coincide with today's release of watchOS 5.1.2, which enables the ECG app on the Apple Watch Series 4 in the United States.

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Top Rated Comments

macduke Avatar
104 months ago
It's too bad these features weren't around a couple years ago. My uncle fell to the ground and died of a massive heart attack nearly two years ago. He was an early adopter of Apple Watch and was wearing it when he died. If it was able to detect irregular heart rhythms and sudden falls back then, he may still be alive today. He was in really good shape and 53 years old. He had just returned from the gym, took a break inside because he was feeling weird, and then after a while got up and decided to go outside and wash his truck. He was like father to me because my actual father is garbage. I'm glad that Apple has developed this technology to help other people not lose loved ones like I did. I just wish it had been developed sooner.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kermetajb Avatar
104 months ago
It depends, if I'm left half assed, I'll take the peace and tranquility of death any day.
I am a nurse practitioner and I can tell you that this particular feature of the new Apple Watch would actually prevent what you are describing. Atrial fibrillation most commonly causes blood clots to form in the heart where they often are pumped up to the brain. This is called a stroke and generally leaves people debilitated, not dead. So, detecting this problem quickly would actually prevent what you fear would happen in the event that someone sought medical care after receiving an alert.

Keep in mind that we have reached a point in medicine where we can generally keep people alive when serious medical conditions occur. People don’t “drop dead” nearly as much as they used to. Again, they usually are just debilitated by a condition that was not treated quickly. So prevention and early detection are key.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BeyondtheTech Avatar
104 months ago
Damn, so much dust in the room right now... or something flew into my eye...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bbednarz Avatar
104 months ago
I’m not really a mean person lol but these stories and these ads I find extremely annoying
Why? I would say these are some of the best ads out there. Stories where they helped save or potentially save a life. Seems like a great way to help sell a product.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
philosopherdog Avatar
104 months ago
We are sitting here crying over an Apple Watch ad! I think I need the new one now!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
370zulu Avatar
104 months ago
As a 50 year old heart attack survivor, these advertisments definitely resonate with me and my family. My son and daughter don't laugh about the AW and they don't see it as a novelty as some in their generation do. My AW3 has alerted to high heart rate a few times - once when I was sleeping it alerted and woke me up which allowed to get to the ER where a problem that was found with a medication that I was taking at the time.

I hope that the folks who poke fun or criticize these stories never have to experience something life threatening enough to be able to tell their own story like this. I hope their family does not have feel the pain of nearly losing the people they love. Yea, I get it, it is advertising. But for some people who have the device, it is real and lets them rest easier knowing that they could get advanced notice of some impending health issue or have the ability to call for help from their wrist. I am one of those people that it is real for and I hope Apple continues to develop this device to help as many people as they can.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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