A New Jersey man is crediting his Apple Watch with saving his life following a terrifying drop down a mountainside.
James Prudenciano and Paige Paruso got lost during a hike in Hartshorne Woods Park in Middletown last week — and then fell over a steep cliff, they told New Jersey 12.
As it began to get dark, they decided to slide down the cliff, hoping to land on solid ground — but then realized there was nothing below them but rocks and the Navesink River.
“I looked down and I noticed it was a straight drop to rocks and water,” Prudenciano, 28, told the outlet.
Paruso jumped down into the river and yelled up that she wasn’t seriously hurt.
But Prudenciano landed on a rock and fractured his back in three places.
“I really felt I was going to die,” he said. “There was no way out of this for me. I literally said my last goodbyes.”
That’s when his Apple Watch automatically dialed 911.
Apple Watch models later than the Series 4 have a feature that detects when a wearer has taken a hard fall and asks if they want to call the authorities.
If the user doesn’t move for more than a minute, the watch automatically calls 911 and shares the user’s latitude and longitude coordinates.
Police told the outlet they rescued the pair from the river by boat and took them to Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where they were treated for their injuries.