JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A southeast Georgia woman said her Apple Watch may have saved her life not once, but twice.
Angela McLean was alerted by the watch that her heartbeat was irregular just after she was struck by lightning in August.
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“It hit one of those stumps and I saw the lightning come on top of the ground, and it was headed straight towards me,” said McLean. “I took off running toward the house, and it hit me before I got inside. It went in my feet and came out of the palm of my hand.”
That lightning strike put her into an AFib, which is an irregular heartbeat that puts people at risk for serious health issues like heart failure and stroke.
She was treated at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside Hospital.
Dr. Amr Barakat, who is a cardiologist at the hospital, said McLean’s situation was pretty unique, noting that there can be electrical problems in your heart after being struck by lightning, but AFib is not the most common one.
“The likelihood of someone being struck by lightning is very low,” said Dr. Barakat. “When she came to see me in the office again, sure enough, she was in AFib.”
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And this was not the first time she was notified by her watch that something was wrong.
She was first diagnosed with AFib in 2023, and at that time, she received an ablation at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside Hospital.
“She continued to monitor with her Apple Watch for more than 2 years without any episode of AFib,” Dr. Barakat said.
Dr. Barakat said wearable technology is not only helping catch heart problems but also potentially saving lives.
“It’s a very useful technology,” Dr. Barakat said.
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