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Ring Security Camera Saves Tx. Man's Life After He Collapses on Front Porch While Home Alone

Ring Security Camera Saves Tx. Man's Life After He Collapses on Front Porch While Home Alone

A Texas man is expressing gratitude for his Ring camera, which alerted family members last month that he had collapsed on the front porch while he was home alone.

"It was a very scary situation," Joey Lowe, a 60-year-old father from Gilmer, Texas, tells PEOPLE. "Unless someone had walked up on the porch, people would've not seen me, so without the cameras, I probably would've laid there and just died."

An active individual his entire life, Lowe's world was flipped upside down in 2015 when he was left disabled following back surgery.

Lowe says complications from the surgery caused him to lose the use of his left leg. Though he worked through physical therapy for several months to re-gain partial use, he later learned that there was permanent damage to a spinal nerve.

Joseph Lowe
Joseph Lowe

Garrett Lowe Joey Lowe

On a day-to-day basis, Lowe's spinal abrasion injury could show up in various and unexpected ways, such as making him collapse or lose the use of his leg completely.

"I'm constantly having to look down at my feet to make sure they're where they're supposed to be and to maintain balance," he explains, noting that the uncertainty of his condition was what initially inspired his family to install a Ring camera.

"Some days I'm in a walker, some days I'm in a wheelchair, some days I use a cane. There's nothing to indicate you're gonna have a bad day," he adds. "Before I know it, something will happen, and down I go, for no reason whatsoever."

And that's exactly what happened on that hot day during the first week of August.

While tending to their family's outdoor cats, Lowe says he suddenly collapsed on their front porch and lost consciousness.

Joseph Lowe
Joseph Lowe

Garrett Lowe Joey Lowe

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"My wife went out of town with my son, so I got tasked with feeding the cats," he explains. "I guess I must've started getting dizzy but I just don't remember. Next thing I know I'm being loaded into the back of an ambulance."

Though Lowe has no recollection of the incident, the scary moment was captured on the family's outdoor Ring camera. When Lowe collapsed, it sent a cell phone notification to his wife Anita and 18-year-old son Garrett in Dallas, alerting them that there was movement detected at the front door.

"Garrett received the notification and went to video but didn't see anyone," Lowe notes. "So he backed up the video and actually saw me fall."

Anita and Garrett immediately notified their neighbor, who rushed to the family's home to find Lowe on the ground and not breathing. On the security footage, she is seen tending to Lowe before calling 911 and speaking directly to Anita and Garrett in Dallas through the camera.

Joseph and Garrett Lowe
Joseph and Garrett Lowe

Garrett Lowe Joey and Garrett Lowe

"It's a great feeling knowing [my neighbor] showed up," Lowe says. "It makes me feel good that they were there and stepped right up to help me."

Within nine minutes, an ambulance had arrived at Lowe's home. EMTs were also able to communicate with Anita in Dallas about the medications that Lowe was taking before they transported him to a hospital.

Anita later ended up sending a copy of the security video to the doctor to help him find out exactly what happened and to determine what tests needed to be done.

"I just wish I could emphasize the importance that I feel that Ring played in saving my life," Lowe says. "It could take 20-30 minutes for other systems, but with Ring, it was almost instantaneous... That's just incredible."

Lowe ended up staying in the hospital for about a week, spending the first three days in the ICU.

Doctors ultimately determined his potassium levels had bottomed out, which caused him to suffer a syncope event related to his heart. Lowe is now wearing a heart monitor for the next month and is confined to a wheelchair as he recovers.

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Though his current circumstances aren't ideal, Lowe feels nothing but gratitude.

"I'm so thankful that Ring gave my family and friends and paramedics a communications platform to where they could all talk together and give me the help I needed," Lowe says. "Even if Ring never works for me again, the mere fact that it worked for me one time and I'm here to talk about it now, that is worth every penny I ever spent on it."

As the father of three continues down the road to recovery, he says he's looking forward to spending more time with his family — and hopes that others can learn from his scary experience.

"Don't hesitate to get this system," he urges. "I can't think of enough good things to say about them. The technology's there, so we ought to use it. There's just no excuse."