More than just a tech savvy fashion statement, the Apple Watch is also a life saver! Lately I've seen a string of eye-opening commercials regarding the watch and it's "fall detection" capabilities, but for one Michigan woman life imitated art.

Yoga teacher Amy Satterfield was at home with her husband one evening when she noticed her device showed an alarming heart rate of 126 beat per minute. For reference, a normal resting heart rate should be between 60 to 100 bpm. Thankfully Amy's husband is also a first responder and he immediately knew something was wrong.

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As the owner of a yoga studio 47 year old Amy says she works out regularly and eats healthy, so when she saw the concerning numbers on her watch she figured it was a glitch or that she may be overreacting. According to Amy, she was under-reacting!

It turns out the watch had alerted Amy to something she'd unknowingly been experiencing for years: an undiagnosed heart condition. Amy has had a mitral valve prolapse her whole life and when her watch showed an increased heart rate, what she was actually experiencing was heart failure!

Thankfully Amy's husband insisted she go to the hospital where she ended up having life-saving open heart surgery to repair the prolapsed valve. Can you imagine going from a typical evening at home to having open-heart surgery! Not the quiet night Amy had anticipated.

Though I use my smart watch for texting, I forget the sometimes life-saving technologies these little devices can provide. Just recently former WOOD TV8 anchor Leon Hendrix shared a video of his toddler calling 911 on an Apple Watch he assumed to be defunct. Though it's fun to feel like Inspector Gadget, it's amazing that we now have such easy access to life-saving technology.

Do you own a smart watch? Let Amy's story be a cautionary tale!

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