A new report from the BBC highlights what is just the latest instance of someone’s Apple Watch alerting them to a life-threatening heart condition. Adam Croft, a 36-year-old from Bedfordshire, recounted the experience: “Not a feature I expected to use.”
In the interview, Croft explained that he went to bed one night after experiencing dizziness and other symptoms:
Croft said he got up from the sofa one evening and “felt a bit dizzy”, but when he reached the kitchen to get some water, he “immediately felt the world closing in “.
“I managed to get down and found myself in a pool of cold sweats,” he said. “Being a man, I didn’t think about it much and went to bed.”
The next morning, however, Croft woke up to find alerts on his Apple Watch warning him that the device had detected atrial fibrillation. He then called the emergency services, who ordered him to “get to the hospital within the hour”.
At Bedford Hospital, further tests confirmed that Croft had atrial fibrillation. Without the alert from his Apple Watch, Croft said he probably wouldn’t have gone to the hospital.
The writer said he’s had “little heartbeats” before that his watch didn’t pick up, but those haven’t happened in months. He had also “never had any pain or symptoms that I thought were serious”.
He added that he would not have called the NHS 111 service, where people can get advice on symptoms and treatment, if the watch had not alerted him.
“I had no reason to do it,” he said. “I just felt a little dizzy…I felt a little hard, so I thought I might have something.”
After tests confirmed atrial fibrillation, doctors put Croft on blood thinners. He will now undergo what is called a cardioversion procedure, which will use “rapid, low-energy shocks to restore a regular heartbeat”.
“The watch will stay on now,” Croft concluded.
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