Man credits Apple Watch data for helping to uncover blood clots in lungs

The Apple Watch Series 8.

The Apple Watch has saved the life of yet another user.

According to news affiliate News5 in Ohio, Ken Couniha shared how his Apple Watch became a life-saver after alerting him to high respiratory rate and low blood oxygen levels.

The high respiratory rate in October 2022 prompted him to seek outpatient care where he took an X-ray and the condition was diagnosed as bronchitis. Soon after, his Apple Watch flagged another alert on low blood oxygen levels of mid-80s. He went to the Emergency Room where doctors did more scans and discovered something more severe - there were blood clots all over his lungs!

An emergency medical staff at Cleveland Clinic told News5 that "blood clots actually can become a life-threatening condition if they're not caught early enough."

"What the doctor said as a follow-up was it if I hadn't gone in, he said 60% of the people that have this condition at that stage—if I gone to bed, I may not have woken up the next morning," Counihan said.

While Counihan did not specify the Apple Watch model, blood oxygen monitoring is only available on the Apple Watch Series 6, 7, 8 and Ultra. Respiratory rate can be measured and tracked with Apple Watch Series 3 or later with watchOS 8.

Since the introduction of the ECG, fall detection and other health features on the Apple Watch, many reports have surfaced on how the smartwatch has saved their lives. Check out the different reports below: