A teenager from Pune is crediting his Apple Watch for helping to save his life when he met with a fatal accident during a trek in Lonavala earlier this year.
The incident took place in July when Smit Mehta, who was preparing for the NEET exam in Pune, planned a trip to Lonavala to trek along with his friends. While on the way back, Mehta lost his balance and fell down a valley on a rainy day.
“I fell on a tree and got stuck to the stone. I was almost on the edge of the valley,” the 17-year-old teen narrated the incident to indianexpress.com. Mehta says he somehow survived but suffered a broken ankle and injuries.
With no one nearby to call for help, Mehta recalled he left his phone in his friend’s bag that day. The only device he had was the Apple Watch Series 7 during the troubled moment. Thanks to the built-in cellular connectivity, Mehta used the Apple Watch to call his parents and ask for help. The rescue team was then called and with the help of a few trekkers, Mehta was safely pulled and taken to a safer place.
“I was bleeding. I was in a deep forest. If I didn’t have an Apple Watch, they would have taken more time to find me,” Mehta said.
Mehta was later admitted to a hospital in Lonavala and underwent surgery. He was then admitted to a Mumbai hospital and finally discharged in August. He says he’s now “recovering” well.
Mehta wrote an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook and shared his story. The teenager got a surprise reply from Cook who wished him a speedy recovery. “I am glad you are on the path of recovery,” Cook wrote.
