My Apple Watch is the Reason I Am Not Dead

My Apple Watch is why “ died from a little cold” is not engraved on a marble stone to mark my grave now.

I have seen people look at me with awe, jealousy, and judgment when I respond to an email with a few taps to my left wrist. I get the impression that they think my iPad, iPhone, and Macbook Pro were enough to accomplish my tasks. The Watch, something to show off.

Well, the joke is on them because this device practically saved my life a couple of weeks ago. My nose was congested, I was sneezing, but it was not serious.

Or so I thought. I did not even have a cough, I had been keeping safe since I got vaccinated, so I was pretty sure it was not COVID.

I was sitting calmly, watching Saga and Nini grind on each other at the BBN Friday night party when my watch told me my heart rate was double the normal. I felt fine, as fine as I was a couple of hours before the notification came in. I can tell you that I stopped feeling fine immediately.

I started freaking out. What should I do? Should I take a bath or try to sleep? I have always despised Yoga, but I wished I knew the tricks to slow heart rate at that moment. What is funny, I have first aid training, but I could not find my own pulse.

That’s how I called my boss on the way to the hospital in the morning to tell him I would not be working from home or anywhere on that day. I was happy to see that the doctor was as freaked out as I was about the heart rate.

We ran a series of tests with the results proving that I did not have COVID. However, something more than the upper respiratory tract infection must have caused the increase in heart rate. The doctor asked if I was anxious about anything recently. “Where should I begin?”

According to Apple, the watch can detect tachycardia (high heart rates) and bradycardia (low heart rates, you got it right), if you manually enter what would be high and low heart rates for you in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

If your watch detects heart rates above or below those ranges, it will notify you. Some researchers and medical professionals worry that this feature can result in false alarms. However, a few false alarms are worth every life saved, including mine.

Some of the other cool features of the Apple Watch include; warning you of loud noise to protect against hearing damage, help you prioritise your sleep, track your menstrual cycle, and more.

For saving my life, I think Apple Watch deserves to win the device of the week or the lifetime.