Apple Watch Saves 61-year-old Indian Man's Life, Tim Cook Wishes Him Speedy Recovery

In the first such reported case in India to date, the electrocardiogram (ECG) feature on Apple Watch has saved the life of a 61-year-old Indore resident and Apple CEO Tim Cook wished him fast recovery post-surgery.

R. Rajhans, a retired pharma professional who uses an Apple Watch Series 5, decided to check his ECG on the Apple Watch after he felt unwell in March this year.

The Apple Watch was gifted to him by his son Siddharth, a student at Harvard University who has worked with some of the top tech companies in Silicon Valley.

"Since Apple Watch allows the ECG function, one can check it on a more regular basis. Twice or thrice, in the middle of the night, my father was getting arrhythmia signals or irregular heartbeats. It's a critical indicator," Siddharth said.

When the same result persisted, he decided to share the findings with his doctor.

Though Rajhans did suffer from hypertension, he didn't have any heart condition.

Further diagnosis revealed that Rajhans had low ejection fraction and required immediate heart surgery.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the surgery was delayed but Rajhans continued to monitor his ECG on his Apple Watch.

"My dad underwent a Mitral Valve replacement surgery and it was his Apple Watch that helped detect the irregular heart rhythm prior to the Valve failure Echo-cardiograph," Siddharth said.

Post-surgery, Siddharth wrote to Cook and heard from him last week.

"Siddharth, thank you for sharing this. I am happy to note that your father received medical attention in time and I hope he's feeling better now. Our team will connect with you," Cook responded in an email.

Apple's team then got in touch with the Rajhans family.

"The idea of having a device like Apple Watch is to strike a balance between using tech and medical awareness in order to take charge of our parent's lives. It saved my dad's life. It's a life-changing product," Siddharth said.

The ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notification feature helps users identify signs of AFib, the most common form of irregular rhythm.

When left untreated, AFib is one of the leading conditions that can result in stroke, the second most common cause of death around the world.

The Apple Watch has to date saved many lives across the world via its health features like ECG, Fall Detection and others.

In 2018, a Pune-based 53-year-old lawyer Arati Joglekar wrote an email to Cook, thanking him for a "life-changing" moment courtesy her Apple Watch when the wearable kept buzzing him to take deep breath and relieve the stress as her heart rate had shot up to 136 beats per minute.

Her son wrote an email to Cook, to which Cook responded: "I'm happy your Mum is fine. Thanks for your note and kind words. Best".