Hartshorne Woods Park, NJ (CNN) – A New Jersey man says his Apple Watch saved his life after he and his date fell off of a cliff.

“A lot of anxiety knowing that this is the place that I almost lost my life,” James Prudenciano said.

Prudenciano showed the scratches on his arms and the thorns still lodged in his foot after he says he and his date, Paige Paruso, got lost in the woods after falling over some thorns onto a steep cliff.

To get to level ground, they decided to sit and slide down the cliff:

“We got to the bottom and that’s when it was life or death. I looked down and I noticed it was a straight drop to rocks and water,” said Prudenciano

He says Paruso dropped into the Navesink River and yelled to let him know she was hurt, but okay. That’s when his Apple Watch detected a “hard fall” and called 911.

“I was screaming that I’m going to die. I really felt I was going to die. There was no way out of this for me. I literally said my last goodbyes,” said Prudenciano.

Prudenciano’s mother says she also received these text messages letting her know that there was an emergency. In the dark of night, Prudenciano eventually fell into the river as well. He landed on a rock.

“I have three fractures in my back,” said Prudenciano.

Middletown Police say during the rescue response the two victims were placed on a passing boat and taken to a pier. They were transported to Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center for treatment of their injuries. And through it all, Prudenciano says he still loves nature.

“Even though it’s a horrible story that what happened, it’s still something that I will always enjoy and always love. So, it’s not going to ever deter me,” said Prudenciano said.