How an Apple watch saved a man's life by calling Triple 0 and texting his wife when he fell backwards from a ladder and fractured his spine

A grandfather who suffered serious fractures in a ladder fall believes he may not be still here today if he wasn't wearing his trusty Apple Watch at the time. 

Jason Potts, 54, was cleaning his gutters with a pressure cleaner at his Latrobe Valley home in Victoria's Gippsland region earlier his month when disaster struck.

A piece of timber he was holding broke, which forced him to fall backwards, topple over a 1.8m high fence and land head first on the concrete path in the backyard next door.

As neighbours rushed to his aid and rang triple-0, Mr Potts' Apple Watch also detected the chaos.

An injured Jason Potts is treated by paramedics after his Apple Watch called triple-0

'A voice came out of my watch saying "hello, can anyone hear me, your Apple Watch has detected a hard fall and called triple-0, do you require an ambulance?",' Mr Potts told Seven News.

'That was a spin out as if the fall wasn't a spin out itself.'

The smart device also alerted Mr Potts' wife Michele, who was set up on the watch as an emergency contact.

'I received four messages saying Jason had a hard fall and his last location,' she said. 

Still bearing the physical scars, Mr Potts suffered a dislocated collarbone, fractures to his spine and ribs, along with a nasty gash to his head, which required surgery.

He spent five days in hospital and will need another 4-6 weeks to recover from his injuries. 

'I'm 107kg so I landed with all that weight on my head and shoulder,' Mr Potts said.

The near-fatal accident hasn't deterred Mr Potts, vows to get back up on the ladder and finish cleaning his gutters once he's fully recovered.

He feels comforted to know his Apple device will be watching if disaster strikes again. 

Grandfather-of-nine Jason Potts survived a horrific fall from his ladder on September 20

Jason Potts suffered a dislocated collarbone, fractures to his spine and ribs and a head gash

'It's like, that's clever, it's nice to know that worked,' Mr Potts told NCA Newswire.

'Eighteen months ago when I bought it I must have known something about triple-0 because I didn't want to test it, what are you going to do to test it?

'I think this is something that people need to know that it works - even the people in the hospital hadn't heard of it before.'

Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority says it's not the first time triple-0 operators have received a call from a smart watch.