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Apple Watch fall detection saves New Jersey man after tumbling off cliff and breaking his back

Apple Watch‘s fall detection feature has likely saved another life. This time, Apple’s wearable auto dialed 911 after a young couple hiking in New Jersey fell off a cliff and landed on the rocks in a river below.

As reported by Business InsiderJames Prudenciano and his date Paige Paruso were out hiking in Hartshorne Woods Park in New Jersey last week.

James said that it was getting dark and was tough to see. They started sliding down what they thought was a short drop off but as it happened were actually sliding down a serious cliff headed for the Navesink River.

“We got to the bottom and that’s when it was life or death,” Prudenciano told News 12. “I looked down and I noticed it was a straight drop to rocks and water.”

Both James and Paige fell into the river with James hitting a rock and fracturing his back in three places. Fortunately, Paige wasn’t seriously injured.

At the time, James thought it was the end…

“I was screaming that I’m going to die because I really felt I was going to die,” he said in an interview with News 12. “There was no way out of this for me. I literally said my last goodbyes.”

Luckily he was wearing his Apple Watch Series 4. It automatically detected his hard fall and called 911. James and Paige were rescued by boat and taken to the hospital.

Very notably, since James is only 28, fall detection would have been set to off by default. So him turning that feature on manually really paid off. If you want to turn on fall detection on your Apple Watch, read more in our post here.

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Avatar for Michael Potuck Michael Potuck

Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.