Apple Watch Alert Catches Rare Cancer Just in Time | Image Source: www.nzherald.co.nz
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, April 9, 2025 – When most people think of smart watches, physical fitness tracking and message notifications usually come to mind. But for Amanda Faulkner, a psychiatrist based in Napier, New Zealand, the Apple Watch 10 Series became much more than a digital partner, becoming a silent sentry that helped save her life. According to a deep feature of the New Zealand Herald, Faulkner’s smartwatch alerted a series of abnormal health measures that eventually led to a vital diagnosis: Acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer.
Faulkner had recently updated the Apple Watch 10 series, intrigued by the new Vitals app, a tool designed to track a user’s night health measures such as heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen levels and body temperature. According to 9to5Mac, the purpose of the application is not to diagnose but to provide early warning when something appears. For Faulkner, the tool did just that – always score a peak in his resting heart rate from his 55 beats per minute to values in the 1990s. At first, he rejected the warnings as a failure or malfunction of the device, he was concerned that the trend was continuing and asked a doctor for advice.
“For the heart, if it wasn’t for my smart watch, it always bothered me, I wouldn’t even have noticed something was wrong,” he shared in his interview with the Herald. Your doctor acted quickly, referring to the emergency department, where blood tests confirmed the acute diagnosis. In a few hours of arrival, Amanda found herself facing a fatal illness that, had she not gone unnoticed for a few more days, could have ended fatally. The next day, she was transferred to Palmerston North Hospital for intensive chemotherapy.
What makes the Apple Watch Vitals app meaningful in health surveillance?
According to Apple, the Vitals app is designed to track the evolution of several biometric users and alerts if your data is diverted from established reference data. Although the device does not replace professional medical equipment, its real value lies in early detection, serving as a proactive fan to investigate possible health anomalies. Dr. Sumbul Desai, Apple’s Vice President of Health, noted that while the clock should not be considered a diagnostic device, high heart rates were shown to be potential indicators of underlying conditions, including infections and even allergic reactions. Amanda Faulkner’s experience reinforces this perspective by showing how timely alerts can be the difference between life and death.
This story also shows how articles are beginning to bridge the gap between consumer technology and clinical relevance. According to a 2023 study by The Herald, researchers at the University of Auckland are studying how usable data can be integrated into official health systems. The expert in health computing, Dr. Ruhi Bajaj, said that usable technology, when combined with machine learning, can transform reactive care into normative care. The case of Faulkner gives weight to this vision.
How was Amanda Faulkner’s condition treated after detection?
Faulkner’s diagnosis led to immediate hospitalization and chemotherapy. His prognosis remains optimistic, although his treatment plan includes a high-consumption stem cell transplant planned for July in Wellington. The procedure, designed to replace the bone marrow in healthy cells of a European donor, has a mortality rate of 20%. Despite the huge odds, Amanda and her husband Mike still have hope, attributing their feeling of optimism at the beginning of the head provided by Apple Watch.
“Apple Watch has changed our lives,” said Mike Faulkner, recognizing the role played by the device in detecting the problem early enough to allow intervention. Amanda’s perspective is based not only on gratitude, but also on clinical understanding. After working in hospitals in the United Kingdom and New Zealand for more than a decade, including an approach in trauma patients, he first knows how many times early symptoms are ignored or not noticed until too late.
What does this case say about the wider potential of the articles to be carried?
Usable devices have evolved beyond simple meters or fitness monitors. They gradually find a foot in preventive health, a long-term change advocated by public health experts. According to Komando, this trend could fundamentally change the way medical interventions are timed and activated. Imagine a future in which your watch not only forces you to stand up or breathe, but also marks the early onset of respiratory diseases or cardiac abnormalities, which causes specialist visits before symptoms intensify.
Dr. Amy Chan, Faculty of Pharmacy, Auckland University, is currently developing a model for predicting asthma attacks using usable data. His work aims to detect physiological changes before an asthma attack occurs, giving patients valuable time to act. The consistency of these research efforts – from blood cancer to respiratory diseases – provides a compelling picture of a future where health management begins with the wrist.
Why is it essential to approach this technology with a balanced vision?
Although the potential of the items to be worn is immense, it is crucial not to treat these devices as substitutes for medical judgment. As Apple points out, the watch is a detection tool, not a diagnostic device. Its objective is to inform and alert, empower users to provide more data to their health care providers. There is also a risk of excessive dependence or false alarms, which can cause unnecessary anxiety or medical visits. This is why the development of machine learning algorithms and health prediction models is so critical – they help refine the sound signal, ensuring that alerts are timely and accurate.
That said, human stories – like Amanda’s – give from emotional gravitation to the promise of usable technology. They also highlight the value of listening to our bodies and, increasingly, our devices. Faulkner’s ability to share graphics from his Apple Watch during his medical consultation aerated his way of diagnosing. “It turned out to be a clear trend,” he said, stressing how the data provided physicians with an immediate view of their metric decline.
What is Amanda Faulkner waiting for?
Despite the battle, Faulkner remained focused on recovery and reprobation, where he specialized in traumatized therapy for survivors of abuse. At the time of his diagnosis, he had 64 patients on his waiting list, a will both for his professional commitment and for the demand for mental health services. Your return trip will be long and uncertain, but early detection has given you the opportunity to fight.
Their experience also gives rise to wider cultural reflection. How many of us ignore the warning signs – persistent fatigue, irregular heartbeat, unexplained changes in sleep or temperature – by shaking them like stress or aging? In Faulkner’s case, his medical training helped him to trust the data and act. For others, stories like yours could be the impetus they need to start taking digital health alerts seriously.
From living room to bedrooms, doll-based sanitary surveillance is part of everyday life. And as Amanda Faulkner’s story reminds us, sometimes the most important warnings do not come from doctors or hospitals, they take the form of soft touches on the wrist while you sleep.
Whether you are technological or skeptical, there is a lesson: when your body – or watch – whispers, it is worth hearing.
