“A California filmmaker has revealed how his Apple Watch saved him after a kiteboarding mishap left him stranded a mile off the California coast in shark infested waters,” Mark Prigg reports for The Daily Mail. “Stranded off Ventura, where a great white shark nursery was recently discovered, he used his watch to call coastguards – and was even able to direct their rescue boat towards him.”
“John Zilles said he spent 20 minutes desperately trying to get his kite to fly again. ‘I realized I needed to get everything together and start swimming to shore, which was difficult as I had a lot of gear with me,'” Prigg reports. “He began swimming to shore, which he estimates would have taken him at least two hours. However, he soon checked the time on his Apple Watch – and remembered it can make calls.”
“‘I realized I had my watch – so called the Ventura Harbor Patrol, explained my situation and asked for help,'” Prigg reports. “Officers sent a boat, and asked him to call back when he saw it… Zilles was so impressed he wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook to tell his story, and says he got a ‘short but sweet’ reply from Cook, saying ‘wow. happy to hear you are safe.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Another one saved!
SEE ALSO:
Apple Watch saves another person’s life: ‘It would have been fatal’ – October 16, 2017
How my Apple Watch saved my life – July 25, 2016
A real lifesaver: Apple Watch saves lives – March 28, 2016
Man credits Apple Watch with saving his life – March 15, 2016
Apple Watch saves teenager’s life; Tim Cook offers thankful teen an internship – October 2, 2015
We can now say farewell and good Darwin riddance to all those Android users who prematurely expired because they were using the wrong technology.
A bit harsh to wish death on someone based on their choice of phone!
But only a bit…
No douche like an Apple douche. Apple cider vinegar and water….
I hope your Apple Watch will help folks find your rotting body.
Relax Masengill…
This is exactly why my wife and I upgraded our watches to LTE. We both kitesurf.
But we need better watch bands. I’m hearing too many reports of sport bands falling off while surfing.
I have been windsurfing and kiting with my applewatch with the sport band for 3 years now very frequently( yes even with the orifinsl one.. it eas waterproof enough )…., id say i go out about 60-70 sessions a year………and i have some healty whipeouts all the time.
I have never had an issue with the sport band coming loose. Neither have couple friends who have one.
One thing that may help get a more secure lock is to wear the band tight around the wrist so that there is actually some tension on the pin and the band……. this will also allow you to have a longer portion of the band tucked under ….the higher tention will also allow for a tighter grip on the portion thats tucked under …..making is more secure .
I’m sure DW will really appreciate that low information advice. Ya know, actually naming the brand of watch band would have been helpful. I think that you missed this crucial point.
Anyone done testing to see how far from a cell tower the Watch can get?
I would think the watch would have a shorter range.
Very cool.
If Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava had at least one Apple Watch they would have been saved.
The LTE Apple Watch has a killer app, water safety.
Thats one of the biggest reasons i love my apple watch cellular..
I windsurf and kitesurf.. and applewatch truly can be a lifesaver.
Mine is fully programmed with lifeguard and coast guard as my energancy contacts..
Puch on the side botton and everyone gets my coordinates and sos.. and they are updated if my location changes.
And local enetgancy is simonteniously called …
Applewatch cellular and and iPhonesX ara By far my favorite Apple products ever!
Forgive my typos…
Thats exactly one of the biggest reasons i love my Apple watch cellular..
I windsurf and kitesurf.. and applewatch truly can be a lifesaver.
Mine is fully programmed with local lifeguard and coast guard as my energancy contacts..
One press on the side botton and everyone gets my coordinates and sos.. and they are updated if my location changes.
And local emergancy is simultaneously called …
Applewatch cellular and and iPhoneX are By far my favorite Apple products ever!
Stranded. All by himself. All alone. All by himself. Isolated. Just him. Surrounded by a school of man eating, blood thirst sharks. Wow. I can’t wait for the film, maybe miniseries.
I love how the journalist add “great white shark infested waters”… Not part of the original story, mind you, obviously added. Having SCUBA dived in those very same waters, I can assure you that the sharks were not his problem — trying to swim back with all his gear would have been the problem. I’m glad his watch saved his gear; had he not had his watch, the smart thing to do (as any SCUBA diver would tell you) — ditch the gear and swim the two miles to shore. And if you are not fit enough to swim back to shore, what the hell were you doing out there in the first place?
Hubris. It is no different than people who go to dangerous places without either the physical and mental capacity to function, get into trouble, then demand someone come save them. But you ask a good question. When more and more people willingly and knowingly place themselves in danger this places a serious strain on emergency services and places at risk other people who are in more desperate need of rescue.
I just love those ads Apple has showing how Apple Watch has saved lives. It always brings a tear to my eye when I see all those ads.