Roswell man says smartwatch may have saved his life after bad fall in the woods

ROSWELL, Ga. - A man in Roswell said his smartwatch likely saved his life.

Mike Menand was on a hike in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area with his dogs Cinnamon and Sugar back in April.

He thinks they saw a coyote.

"They got spooked and knocked me down and dragged me off the trail," he said.

His smartwatch instantly detected the incident and assisted him in calling for help.

"There’s no telling how long I would’ve been laying there," he said. ""I realized I couldn’t move, I couldn’t get up. I was in a lot of pain."

He called for an ambulance with a few taps on his smartwatch.

"Once the call was made to 911, they stayed on with me until emergency services showed up."

Right after his fall, a 46-year-old Sandy Springs woman with her two dogs fell in that very same park. She did not survive.

"When I read that, I thought that could’ve been me," Menand said. "Because I was by myself, no one around me, no one really knew where I was."

This isn’t the first time a smartwatch has saved the day Last month, FOX 5 reported on a man whose Apple Watch alerted him about a potentially deadly heart condition.

Manufacturers like Samsung, Garmin, and Google also sell watches that can detect falls and changes in the heartbeat.

Menand said his device was his only shot at getting immediate help that day.

"I couldn’t even get to the phone because my phone was in my pocket, which I was lying on."

About eight months later, Menand said he still has a titanium rod in his leg.

Menand wrote to Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, to personally thank him, and Apple reached out to FOX 5 to share his story.

He also expressed his gratitude to the Roswell Fire Department and the EMTs who responded that day.

For now, he said he’s sticking to paved surfaces to walk on but hopes to be back hiking the Hooch in the spring.