Our customers regularly tell us how Alexa helps them in their daily lives, often in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Sometimes, our customers are our employees, and this story in particular struck a chord with us. Sarah works on Amazon’s Customer Service team, and listens to our customers’ feedback and supports them in her day-to-day life. She told us about how Alexa recently supported her—and she credits Alexa with helping save her life.
Here’s more from Sarah, in her own words:
"Alexa helped save my life. Yes, you read that correctly. My Echo Show with Alexa helped save my life. Last year, I was out in my yard trimming bushes when I suddenly felt a burning sensation on my hand. I looked down to find that my hand was being swarmed by bees, and the burning sensation was traveling down my legs. I slowly began to back away from the bush. I was covered in bee stings, and as I tried to move towards the house, the bees didn’t leave me alone.
"I made it to my garage, closed the door, and called my husband to make him aware of the situation. He instructed me to take some Benadryl and relax. The time was 1:33 p.m. As I stood in the garage though, I felt as if the bees were still on me. I walked into my home, and I knew something was still not right.
"I yelled for my children, and asked them to help me get Benadryl as I tried to grab a glass of water. As I stood at the sink, my motor functions began to fail me and I told my son to help me call my husband back. I tried to dial my husband’s number, but again my motor functions were failing. I couldn’t easily use my hands. While unable to dial his full number, I successfully found his contact in my recent calls list. But as the call connected, I was only able to utter that something was wrong before I lost consciousness. The time was 1:40 p.m.
"Thankfully my husband called 911 from his work phone, and he simultaneously dropped in on our Echo Show device from the Alexa app on his personal cellphone to remotely communicate with our son. With Alexa, he told our son to go to the neighbor’s house, and immediately get someone to assist. Via our Echo Show’s camera, my husband could visually see our son and neighbor come running back into the house, approaching me on the kitchen floor.
"My husband told them where our daughter’s EpiPen was and how to administer it, while also coaching them to turn me on my side given I had turned blue and began foaming at the mouth. Shortly following at 1:44 p.m., the paramedics arrived. As I left the house with the paramedics, I remained unconscious. It was not until I arrived at the hospital did I gain consciousness again. When I awoke, one of the first things the paramedics said to me was that had I not had the EpiPen administered at the exact time I did, I wouldn't have survived.
"This story has many heroes: My husband, my children, my neighbor, and Alexa. Had my husband not been able to drop in via Alexa to coach my son and neighbor on the steps they took to save my life, I wouldn't be here today."
We are incredibly grateful to hear that Sarah is OK, and that Alexa could help. Learn more about how you can use Alexa to drop in and also call or text your designated emergency contacts when you may be in need of help.
If you have a story of your own about how you use Alexa, we'd love to hear it and will continue sharing some of our favorite #AlexaStories. You can email us or tag us on Twitter or Instagram @alexa99 or #AlexaStories.
