Would you wear a $500 ring if it could save your life? Paralympic gold medallist Hunter Woodhall was alerted to a medical emergency by his smart ring on Tuesday, sending him to the hospital for lifesaving surgery to remove his appendix. The Oura Ring is a wearable device that tracks sleep, physical activity and other health metrics. “This ring might’ve saved my life,” Woodhall said on Instagram.
Woodhall was driving home from track practice in Utah on Monday when he began to experience stomach pain, but assumed it was due to his intolerance to lactose. The pain only worsened as the evening went on. “This was so much worse than anything I had ever experienced,” Woodhall said. “I was throwing up all night, and I couldn’t sleep at all. I was born in a hard-nosed family, so I just dealt with it.”
Alerted by the smart ring
In the morning, the sprinter still felt pain in lower right abdomen was alerted to signs of serious ailment by a symptom radar shown on his ring’s app. “I’ve been wearing this ring for four years and I’ve never seen this, so it instantly caught me off guard,” he said. When device detected an increase in heart rate, body temperature and heart rate variability–all matching the symptoms of appendicitis–the sprinter went to the emergency room.
Appendicitis and an emergency surgery
Appendicitis is characterized by an infected and inflamed appendix; it can lead to the appendix rupturing, which can lead to further infection and even death.
“Looking at the CT scan, they could see my appendix was extremely enlarged. Luckily it hadn’t burst yet, but I was going to have to do an emergency surgery.” The procedure to remove his appendix–an appendectomy–went well, and in his video, Woodhall showed off the three new incision scars on his abdomen.
“I don’t know if I would have gone to the hospital”
“I’m so stubborn that I think without this ring telling me there were major signs something was wrong, I don’t know if I would have gone to the hospital.” The three-time Paralympian will spend the next few days recovering with his dad, who just underwent open-heart surgery.
“We love you, Hunter!” The Oura Ring Instagram account commented on the post. “So glad you’re okay and hope you have a quick recovery.”
Double gold medals in Paris
Woodhall and his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, an Olympic long jumper, are known as Team USA’s power couple. In August, Davis-Woodhall won the women’s Olympic long jump, jumping 7.10m. Less than a month later, at the Paralympic Games, Woodhall won gold in the men’s T62 400m, clocking 46.36 to mark his third consecutive podium and first-ever win in the discipline.
