A hiker says his Apple Watch saved his life by calling 911 after he fell off a cliff

James Prudenciano suffered three fractures in his back from the fall, which was automatically detected by his Apple Watch, News 12 New Jersey first reported.
Apple has touted the emergency response features of the Apple Watch, including its ability to automatically notify emergency services of a hard fall and send a user's coordinates.
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James Prudenciano believes he wouldn't be alive today if not for his Apple Watch.

Prudenciano, 28, was hiking in New Jersey's Hartshorne Woods Park last week with his date, Paige Paruso, when the couple fell through some foliage and over a steep cliff, according to News 12 New Jersey .

Prudenciano said it was after sunset, making it difficult to see. He and Paruso attempted to venture off the trail by sliding down what they believed was a short cliff. They quickly realized, however, that they were sliding towards a dropoff into 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."

Paruso fell into the river and wasn't seriously injured, but Prudenciano landed on a rock, suffering three fractures in his back.

"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."

At that point, Prudenciano's Apple Watch automatically dialed 911.

Apple Watch models later than Series 4 are equipped with an automatic SOS feature that detects when the user has taken a hard fall. It will ask the user if they want to dial 911, and if it detects that the user is immobile for more than a minute, it automatically calls emergency services and shares the user's latitude and longitude.

Police told News 12 that Prudenciano and Paruso were rescued from the river by boat and taken to Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where they were treated for their injuries.

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