Son Says Apple Watch Helped Save Dad’s Life After Serious Fall

Gabe Burdett was heading to meet his father, Bob, for one of their regular mountain biking excursions in the hills of Riverside State Park. However, upon arrival at their usual starting point, his father was nowhere to be found. While waiting at the site, Gabe received an automated text message from his dad’s Apple Watch. “Emergency SOS Bob Burdett called emergency services from this approximate location after Apple Watch detected a hard fall.”
The automated message is part of Apple’s fall detection software, a feature that has been credited with saving several lives since its introduction. In addition to notifying emergency services, it can also send a text message to one of your contacts. Not knowing the severity of his father’s fall, Gabe navigated to the scene. Within minutes, an ambulance was on scene to transport Bob to the hospital. “He didn’t remember flipping his bike and he didn’t remember anything really happening until he was in the ambulance, and even then he was pretty out of it,” Gabe recently told CBS affiliate KREM.
Gabe credits the Apple Watch’s hard fall detection with helping paramedics reach his father as quickly as they did. “It’s been an amazing tool. … You think of fall protection as something like falling off a ladder, but not for doing something you do all the time.”
Bob received a CT scan and X-rays after the accident but is now doing great according to Gabe. The thankful son encourages watch owners everywhere to take advantage of the potentially life saving feature. “Had he fallen somewhere on the High Drive trails or another remote area, the location would have clued EMS in on where to find him. Amazing technology and so glad he had it!”