‘My personal alarm solution allows me to live as I please while giving me peace of mind’

Hans Schmid (75) spends a lot of time outdoors. When he’s not in the woods with grandsons David and Simon, he’s busy working in the garden. But the great outdoors is not without its perils, which is why Hans’ daughter Claudia decided to buy him a mobile alarm unit. Despite his initial scepticism, Hans now wears it every day - after an incident last summer.

‘I didn’t agree with Claudia to begin with. I can look after myself when I’m out and about, I don't need supervising. The alarm bracelet is going to strip me of my feeling of freedom,’ is what I thought. At the same time, I didn’t want to disappoint my concerned daughter so I decided to give the device a go. Claudia’s argument was that if anything were to happen to me while I’m in the woods with my grandchildren or when I’m alone in the garden, things could quickly become critical. And she was right. The incident happened when I was doing a spot of gardening, where I would never have dreamt anything would happen. It was really hot but I still had to get rid of all the foliage I’d cut down. After a few minutes I suddenly began to feel faint. Luckily I managed to react quickly and pressed the button right away to call for help. After a few beeps I heard my daughter, who rushed straight over to help me.

After the incident my mind was made up: I’m always going to keep the alarm unit on me. You just never know. My preconception that the personal Alarm would rob me of my freedom was wrong. If anything, it has enabled me to live as I please while giving me peace of mind.

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The Comfort subscription appealed to me most. I could register my daughter as my primary contact, but also store her husband and my neighbour in the contacts list. It’s reassuring to know that even if my friends and family aren’t able to respond to the alert, someone else will – at the emergency call centre. So far I’ve only spoken to the centre during practice alarms when none of my contacts could be reached. Everything has been brilliant so far and the operators are really friendly. I test my unit with this kind of practice alarm once a month to make sure everything is working as it should. It’s great that these calls are included in the subscription and don’t cost extra. The same goes for false alarms.

Now and again I misplace my unit at home. I’m so pleased to be able to activate it remotely so I can find it again. My daughter also receives a notification if my Mini's battery life is running low. She always lets me know right away so I can make sure I have enough charge when I’m not at home.

In hindsight, I’m really thankful that Claudia insisted on getting me the personal alarm, despite my initial scepticism. It quickly helped me out of my unfortunate situation and I can still do my gardening in future, or build dens in the woods with David and Simon, safe in the knowledge that someone is always there for me in case of emergency.’

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