Trapped hikers rescued after Apple Watch automatically calls 911
New Jersey hiker James Prudenciano credits an Apple Watch with saving his life after running into trouble in a county park.
A New Jersey man and his friend, who slipped on a hiking trail and were dangling from a cliff, were saved when their smart watches automatically called 911 after detecting the impact of their falls.
James Prudenciano and Paige Prusso were hiking in Hartshorne Woods Park in Atlantic Highlands, N.J., last week when they got lost in the woods.
"It was getting dark and we ended up getting lost and we couldn't find our way back," Prudenciano told Fox News on Thursday.
The 28-year-old said he and Prusso slipped on the trail and went over a set of vines on a steep portion of the cliff, making it "impossible" to get back on the trail.
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Pruenciano said he and Prusso scaled the mountain for nearly two hours, but "couldn't find a way back onto the trail."
"We sat on the mountain, looked at each other and decided we're gonna go down this mountain to get off."
Feeling helpless, the pair "sat on our butts and slid down the mountain and we ended up sliding all the way down. When we got to the bottom there was a cliff. I had no idea it was there."
The two desperately grabbed on to nearby vines to prevent themselves from falling over the edge but were dangling from the cliff.
"We started panicking. She was dangling off and hanging," Pruenciano says of his friend, adding that he, too, was dangling over rocks and the Navesink River.
"I was stuck. It was really dark. I couldn't see. My foot was stuck under something. I couldn't see," he said.
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"She looked at me and said: 'Im sorry. I have to let go.' She ended up letting go and falling. I really thought she was dead."
Prudenciano also let go and fell into the river, landing on a rock. That's when he says both of their Apple watches kicked in, their falls triggering the watches to call 911.
He said he heard his watch say, "911 what's your emergency?" and thought, "Damn this is an angel."
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First responders were able to locate the pair by tracking the GPS coordinates on their watches and arrived within 15 minutes.
Prudenciano, who suffered a broken heel and hand, and has cracks in three parts of his back, says he's just happy to be alive.
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