Florida Deputy’s Apple Watch May Have Saved His Life

The Apple Watch alert Sarasota County, Florida, Deputy Sheriff Luke Heyman felt on his wrist was unlike any other he received before — a ‘high heart rate’ notification.

“So I checked my heart rate, it was about 160,” said Heyman. “I thought it was just a malfunction of the watch or just an erroneous reading.”

Two days later, he said he felt sick and his legs felt like jello. Then he got the same alert.

“At that point, I figured, well, two alerts in one week,” Heyman told WFLA . “I should probably go get checked out.”

“When I went to the ER, they did a CT scan with some contrast,” Heyman recalled. “They found that I had multiple blood clots in each of my lungs.”

Heyman recovered for a few months after starting blood thinners and took time off work, and his heart rate is now back to normal. He ended up writing a letter to Apple’s Tim Cook, retelling his story. Just a few hours later, he received a response from the CEO, thanking him for sharing.