An Oklahoma mom is crediting the Apple Watch with saving her son’s life by alerting him to an abnormally high heart rate. Skylar Joslin was in class when his Apple Watch detected a heart of 190 beats-per-minute.
Local news outlet KFOR tells the story:
Skylar was sitting in class in April of 2018, when he got an alarming notification on his two-week-old Apple Watch. “I got a text message along with a screenshot of his heart rate that was 190,” said Skylar’s mom Liz. “The following message saying, ‘Mommy, there’s something wrong. I’m not doing anything.’”
Liz came and picked up 13-year-old Skylar and took him to a nearby emergency room. During the drive, Skylar’s heart rate hit as high as 202 bpm and hit as high as 280 bpm in the hospital. Doctors diagnosed Skylar with supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT, which is a disease that forces the heart to speed up.
Doctors performed a seven and a half hour cardiac ablation to help fix Skylar’s heart’s rhythm.
The Joslin family credits the Apple Watch for alerting Skylar to his heart issue. “If I wouldn’t have gotten his Apple Watch, I don’t know that I would’ve ever known. I mean it’s unknown how long it would’ve been going on or how long it would’ve really taken,” Liz said.
Now Skylar wears his Apple Watch every day, and his situation has even convinced some others to get one of their own. “My science teacher, which is also my youth leader, she got one because of it,” Skylar said. “It’s going to allow Skylar to participate in all sports, all activity without wires,” Liz said.
Skylar will be the face of the southeastern Oklahoma American Heart Association Heart Walk on April 25.
(Via 9to5Mac)