Fitness enthusiast believes Apple Watch helped save his life
A 25-year-old fitness enthusiast is crediting his Apple Watch for helping save his life.
Last month, Brandon Schneider, from Long Island, said his Apple Watch was able to alert his father after he lost consciousness.
"I would certainly say that the Apple Watch helped save my life," Schneider told "Good Morning America."
In the story first reported by People magazine, Schneider, a Peloton sales specialist, said he decided to go to the hospital last month after suffering from severe abdominal pain for days.
"This seemed different than anything I really have experienced in the past," said Schneider. "And I was in excruciating pain."
Schneider said he was accompanied by his dad in the hospital emergency room. During the visit, he went to the restroom and said he was only in there for a couple of minutes when he lost consciousness.
The 25-year-old said all he remembers from that moment was washing his hands.
"I don't remember falling to the ground, or hitting my head or anything of the events that followed," he said.
But in part, thanks to the Apple Watch he was wearing, Schneider said it was able to alert his father nearby within seconds.
"My Apple Watch detected a hard fall and I did not respond to the haptic message that requires a response in 45 seconds," said Schneider. "I was actually more in the right place at the right time for this kind of situation to occur."
Another crucial life saver -- Schneider was already in a hospital, so he received medical care right away.
According to CT scans that were taken, Schneider had a fractured skull, but also life-threatening hematomas, so he had to undergo emergency brain surgery.
Schneider and ABC News medical contributor Darien Sutton said that if he wasn't in the emergency room when his fall occurred, things could have been worse.
"He's incredibly lucky," said Sutton. "In medicine, we have a saying called, 'Time is Brain,' and it essentially just means that it's one of those injuries that you have to approach it and get to it as quickly as possible, because each and every minute that passes by can provide increased damage to the brain."
Doctors say they expect Schneider to make a full recovery, but Schneider credits not just the care he received and his active lifestyle, but his Apple Watch, for his good prognosis.
"Those who have an Apple Watch may be able to set up their emergency contacts -- which I don't know what sparked the idea in me some time before the incident occurred to make sure I had that set up," Schneider said. "But I want to encourage people to do that."
