An Oklahoma woman credits her Apple Watch with saving her life when, after receiving high heart rate notifications on her Apple Watch, she was diagnosed with diabetes.
Ahead of World Diabetes Day (November 14), Judith Luebke of Oklahoma has shared her story of how the wearable helped lead to her diabetes diagnosis two years ago.
Luebke had originally thought that the high heart rate diagnosis on Apple Watch was due to the stress of having recently lost her spouse. However, her co-workers urged her to go to the hospital to be examined. That’s when doctors diagnosed Luebke with diabetes. She had critically high blood sugar levels.
”One Friday morning I got a notification on my watch that I was in A-FIB,” Judith Luebke said. ”I talked to my boss that morning.. and said, ‘you know, I’ve got a meeting this morning. Maybe I’ll see the doctor after that, maybe I will, maybe I won’t — maybe I’ll wait the weekend’,” she explained. “And she said ‘you need to go now’.”
After driving herself to the hospital, Luebke learned she was diabetic. She also had critically high sugar levels — a deadly combination.
”If I had waited the weekend, I probably would not have survived,” she said. “That’s what I would’ve done if I’d not gotten the notification on my watch. I just figured with everything going on, I just wasn’t feeling good, and I’ll get to the doctor when I get to the doctor.”
Luebke sent a thank you e-mail to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. Cook responded the same day, saying he was happy to hear from her, and even happier the technology helped save her.
Luebke’s daughter also credited the Apple Watch for saving her mother’s life:
Her daughter, Shannon Bowers, shared how happy she is her mother went to the hospital.
”I don’t know what I would do without her.. If it hadn’t been for the watch, and if it hadn’t have been for the people in her life — her boss and her other coworkers — telling her ‘no, you need to go in’, and her listening, she wouldn’t be here,” Bowers said.
You can view the entire video interview at KSWO.
Learn more about Apple Watch and health here and World Diabetes Day here.