On that faithful day of September 8, Houle, Jr. took a reading from his Apple Watch, showing a normal heart rate of 60 to 70 beats per minute.
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“Drink lots of water and also listen to your body and seek help if something is wrong”, Houle said. Paul was certain there was a problem when his resting heart rate was more than double his average. “At the hospital, they told me that if I had gone to practice the next day that I would have lost all control of my muscles and there was a good chance I would have fallen down on the field and died right there”, Houle said. It was here that he was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, which is a symptom linked to muscle injury. Rhabdomyolosis occurs when muscle tissue is broken down and its protein is subsequently released directly in to the bloodstream. In severe cases, it can lead to kidney failure and even death. Getting the same reading as the Apple Watch, he rushed the athlete to the academy’s health center, where the nurse confirmed his blood pressure and heart rate were too high. The Apple Watch was indeed instrumental in keeping the teen aware of his condition. Houle shared the escalated heart rate with his trainer, who in turn manually measured his heart rate.
“I’m just grateful that he’s healthy”, said his father Paul Houle Sr”.
Paul won’t be able to play football just yet, but he did land himself an internship next summer with Apple.
This is not the first time a teenager has credited an Apple product with being a literal life-saver: in August, 18-year-old Tennesseean Sam Ray directed Siri, the voice-activated assistant on the company’s iPhone, to dial 911 after he was pinned underneath his truck and could not reach the phone.
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Houle will reportedly be forced to miss a portion of his school’s upcoming football season while he recovers, but the outcome could have been tragically different.
