We’ve regularly heard stories of the Apple Watch’s health features helping save a user’s life. Now, another such story has popped up on Reddit, with an Apple Watch Series 4 user explaining how the device’s ECG app alerted him to bigger problems.

Phil Harrison writes that he was training for the Brighton Marathon when he started experiencing heart palpitations that wouldn’t stop. He then used the ECG app on his Apple Watch to see what was wrong. Of note, Harrison says the ECG app had only been available in the UK for a week when he used it.

The Apple Watch’s ECG result prompted Harrison to seek medical attention, a process that ultimately led to him needing open heart surgery: With a series of events which ended up with me in accident and emergency that evening to being told that I shouldn’t do the marathon which was only 10 days away just on a precaution, to now 2 and a half months later after a series of tests being told I need to have a valve repair surgery via open heart surgery sooner rather than later which is currently booked for Wednesday 3rd of July.

More than anything, this story underscores the impact of Apple’s continued expansion of the ECG functionality around the world. When the ECG app on Apple Watch was originally released, it was limited to the United States. Since then, however, the functionality has gradually expanded to more countries. 

Apple Watch ECG countries

With update to watchOS 5.2, however, ECG and irregular heartbeat notifications are now available in Hong Kong and 19 new countries across Europe. Here are all of the countries and territories where Apple Watch’s ECG and irregular heart beat notification features are supported:

• Austria

• Belgium

• Denmark

• Finland

• France

• Germany

• Greece

• Guam

• Hong Kong

• Hungary

• Ireland

• Italy

• Luxembourg

• Netherlands

• Portugal

• Puerto Rico

• Romania

• Spain

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• United Kingdom

• United States

• US Virgin Islands

Source: 9to5Mac