It began with a text message exchange, the kind that instantly triggers dread.
Mom: “Can u talk?”
Me: “In like an hour. Currently in clinic. Is everything ok?”
Mom: “No.”
Fear clenched my chest as I immediately called my mom back. The news was devastating: my dad had suffered a massive stroke. He’d collapsed while exercising, unable to speak or move. My mom, home at the time, hadn’t heard him fall and might not have discovered him for hours – hours that could have been fatal.
But fate, or perhaps more accurately, technology, intervened. Someone, or rather, something, noticed my dad’s fall, checked in on him via text, and when there was no response, took decisive action: it called 911. This silent guardian angel, the reason my dad is alive today, was his Apple Watch.
Recently gifted as a retirement present, my dad wasn’t a consistent watch-wearer. Thankfully, on this crucial day, it was on his wrist. The moment he fell, his Apple Watch registered the event. It swiftly sent a text message: “Are you OK?”
When a minute passed without a response, the watch didn’t hesitate. It initiated a 911 call. Within fifteen minutes, a police officer was at my parents’ doorstep. My mom, answering the door, was met with an urgent question.
“Is your husband there?” the officer inquired.
“Yes, he is upstairs exercising,” she replied, puzzled.
“Please go check on him. We have reason to believe that he may have fallen,” the officer stated gravely.
A wave of chilling realization washed over my mom. “What if my husband fell and I had no idea?” she thought as she raced upstairs.
She found him on the floor, next to the elliptical, just as the officer suspected – unable to speak or move. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, his condition dire. Doctors assessed his stroke severity using the NIH Stroke Scale, giving him a score of 21. This grim number painted a stark picture: scores above 22 carry an 80% chance of a poor outcome, including death. Every single point increase on this scale diminishes the chance of recovery by about 17%, according to research in Neurology.
In the emergency room, a CT angiogram revealed the culprit: a complete blockage of his left middle cerebral artery (MCA) by a large blood clot. This critical artery is the brain’s major blood supplier, especially to areas controlling speech and right-side movement. Without swift intervention, brain cells in this region would die within hours, leading to irreversible damage or death.
My medical knowledge, honed during neurology rotations, screamed that time was critical. Clots causing complete blockages needed to be dissolved or removed within a narrow three-to-four-hour window to avert permanent damage. Every minute was precious brain tissue lost. At that moment, the timeline of my dad’s fall was agonizingly vague, and his prognosis looked bleak.
In a stroke of luck, the neurology team at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida, was equipped to perform an emergency thrombectomy. This procedure physically removes the clot from the brain. Remarkably, the thrombectomy occurred roughly two hours after his fall, just within the critical window for potential full recovery. However, the extent of the damage remained unknown.
Then, a miracle unfolded. About an hour post-thrombectomy, my dad started speaking again. Within two hours, movement returned to his right arm and leg, and his memory snapped back into focus. Apart from persistent hiccups and some weakness, he was, remarkably, himself again. All thanks to his Apple Watch and its life-saving 911 call.
Mark Lieber and his father, grateful for the technology that gave them more time together.
Before this life-altering event, I was completely unaware of the Apple Watch’s stroke and fall detection capabilities, let alone its ability to contact emergency services. A quick dive into research revealed that fall detection technology debuted in 2018 with the Apple Watch Series 4. It utilizes an accelerometer and gyroscope to monitor user activity and recognize falling motions – data already used by fitness apps. When a fall is detected, the watch first sends a text to confirm the user’s well-being. If no response is detected within 60 seconds, the watch automatically dials 911 and transmits the user’s location. This is essentially where you can witness a 911 call being initiated automatically in a critical situation.
While lauded as a breakthrough, the technology isn’t without its critics. A study indicated that fall detection technologies might only catch about 80% of falls. However, when you or your loved one falls within that 80% where it works, such criticisms pale in comparison to the profound impact.
Curiosity piqued, I searched online to find out how many others had been touched by this technology. A CNET article from September 2020 detailed four instances where the Apple Watch arguably saved lives: a fall victim, a car crash survivor whose watch called 911, and two individuals alerted to irregular heart rhythms. More recently, another man was rescued after his Apple Watch summoned help when he fell into an icy river. However, my dad’s case might be among the first documented instances of someone saved from a stroke thanks to this technology prompting a vital 911 call.
I reached out to Apple to share our story. To my astonishment, I received a personal reply from Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook:
“Mark, Thanks for sharing your dad’s story with us. I’m so glad he is OK now. I receive quite a few stories like your dad’s, and we are so happy this feature is helping people. Be well. Thanks again for your note — it inspires us to keep pushing forward. Best, Tim”.
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