The Fall Detection feature of the Apple Watch helped save a hiker after he had a treacherous, blindfolded fall down a Colorado mountainside.
The Apple Watch has frequently been cited as helping to save people's lives in emergency situations. In one new claim, it helped a man who hurt himself on top of a mountain.
Hiker Phong Le was headed to Father Dyer Peak along a ridge of Mount Helen, in Breckenridge, Colorado, on Halloween. While traversing the ridge, he propped himself on a boulder to study his map, but the large rock gave way.
Le's fall was complicated by being temporarily blinded, reports Outside. His knitted cap had shifted to cover his eyes, preventing him from seeing the landscape as he fell down the slope.
"My first thought was That's it. I'm dead,'" Le recounted of the fall, which had him slamming repeatedly into rocks. While he doesn't remember much from the fall, he did feel the hit on his lower back by one boulder. Sharp rocks sliced exposed skin.
A few impacts in, he thought he had a chance of survival, but that he would be "really messed up" by the repeated impacts.
Fall detected
After coming to a rest, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 on his wrist came into play. Hearing beeps from it, he eventually saw that Fall Detection had been triggered and was counting down to calling for emergency assistance.
Despite feeling stabbing pain in both wrists, he tapped the button to place the call. After transferring the call to his iPhone, which managed to survive the fall, Le talked to a dispatcher for an hour and was instructed to go further down the mountain to safer terrain.
Three hours later, he was met by members of the Summit County Search and Rescue team, and was taken to safety.
Hiker Phong Le, injured after the fall - Image Credit: Phong Le/Outside
Le ended up coming out of the incident with relatively light damage to his body. While he had lacerations to his legs and forearms, two sprained wrists, and a bruised back, he didn't break a bone.
While Le is uncertain as to whether the Apple Watch saved his life, the fact that it helped secure an emergency response quickly certainly aided the situation.
"I've had minor falls that triggered it before," he adds about Fall Detection. "This was the first time I was like, yes, please do call emergency services."
As for future excursions, Le says that the Apple Watch and the Fall Detection feature will be ever present, especially in the wilderness. However, thinking about falling on the slope while blindfolded, he expresses doubts on whether he would take on such terrain in the future.
A repeat lifesaver
The Apple Watch routinely surfaces in reports where a person fell, was involved in a crash, or got involved in some other form of hazardous situation. The mountain fall story is the latest, as the trend continued throughout 2025.
In October, an Apple Watch Ultra siren alarm helped with the rescue of a scuba diver who was ascending to the surface too quickly, alerting an instructor to step in.
Low heart rate alerts on the Apple Watch have also helped people seek medical assistance. In one August report, a woman was badgered by the alerts and saw a doctor, resulting in a diagnosis of a tumor.
Other Apple technology has also helped save lives. In July, another injured climber in Colorado was saved from being stranded by using the satellite texting function of their iPhone.
