17-year-old Paul Houle Jr., is thanking his new Apple Watch for
saving his life after he became ill during football practice. The high
school senior stated that after completing his second football practice,
he started to have excruciating chest and back pain. Houle didn’t think
much of the pain and thought it was due to soreness from practice.
He
then began noticing his heart rate on his Apple Watch. The device
showed him that his heart rate was double of what it should’ve been and
he should seek help immediately. Paul Houle Jr., was rushed to the
emergency room where he found out he had a condition called
rhabdomyolysis. This condition meant that his muscle was breaking down
and flooding his system with protein. Houle also discovered that his
heart, kidneys and liver suffered some damage.
His father, Dr. Paul Houle, a neurosurgeon said that the Apple Watch helped save his son’s life. “If
it wasn’t for the Apple Watch to alert him to the fact that there was a
problem, he probably would have just gone back to bed. He would have
showed up for practice the next day and would have been one of the kids
you read about every fall, who drops dead on the football field. The
damage to his muscles would have led to kidney problems, which would
have led to electrolight disturbance in his system and caused his heart
to fail.”
