Cape Cod Teen: Apple Watch Saved My Life

A Cape Cod teenager is crediting his Apple Watch for saving his life.

Tabor Academy student Paul Houle told One Cape Health News he was wearing the watch after a grueling football practice. The watch indicated the his heart rate was at a dangerous 145 beats per minute. Tabor trainer Brian Torres took him to the school nurse, who drove him to Cape Cod Hospital.

“I didn’t think it was anything serious,” Houle says.

Doctors discovered his organs were failing. He was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, which is potentially fatal. He was stabilized and has since recovered.

“At the hospital they told me that if I had gone to practice the next day that I would have lost all control of my muscles and there was a good chance I would have fallen down on the field and died right there,” Houle told the news service. “I’m very grateful for that heart rate monitor.”

Houle hasn’t been cleared to return to football. He has plans next summer—Apple CEO Tim Cook called Houle and offered him a summer internship at Apple, according to CBS.