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Life-Saving Apple Watch Tipped Alberta Man Off Before Heart Attack

Turns out a wearable heart rate monitor is pretty useful.
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 10: A customer displays his new model Apple watch with a new rubber band in an Apple store on September 10, 2015 in New York City. The Cupertino, California based tech company unveiled new bands and two new finishes for the Apple Watch today. The finishes of stainless silver and rose gold are available at the same price point as the preexisting watch which was released in April. There are now more than 10,000 watch apps available including a GoPro's app acts as a viewfinder for your camera. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Spencer Platt via Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 10: A customer displays his new model Apple watch with a new rubber band in an Apple store on September 10, 2015 in New York City. The Cupertino, California based tech company unveiled new bands and two new finishes for the Apple Watch today. The finishes of stainless silver and rose gold are available at the same price point as the preexisting watch which was released in April. There are now more than 10,000 watch apps available including a GoPro's app acts as a viewfinder for your camera. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Fitness trackers are a fun way to keep track of your health, but it turns out the gadgets might be life-savers — literally.

Contractor Dennis Anselmo said his Apple Watch tipped him off before he had a heart attack in Edmonton last summer.

"I just wasn't feeling right. I was hot and cold at the same time," the 63-year-old told CBC News. "I was jittery."

Anelsmo looked down at his Apple Watch, flipped to the heart rate monitor, and realized his heart was pounding at over 200 beats per minute — more than double a normal rate.

Anselmo called 911 an ambulance took him to the Royal Alexandra Hospital. There, a cardiac team immediately whisked him into surgery.

An artery in his heart was 70 per cent blocked, reported the CBC.

“They told me that if I had gone home and gone to bed — as many people do — I would likely have had another, more-serious bout in the middle of the night," Anselmo said in an interview with The Sun.

Anselmo, who collects analog watches in his spare time, said his wife was initially against Apple Watches because of the hefty price tag — which can be upwards of $1,000 — but she changed her tune after the gadget saved her husband's life.

Since the heart attack, the Apple Watch has been the only one he wears, according to Apple World.

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Apple Watch unveiled in London

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