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Registered User
Location: Somewhere in Ohio
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Trapped hiker speaks of severing own arm
LINKY
I know ART already posted the story about this man, but here's what happened in his words.
Quote:
Trapped hiker speaks
of severing own arm
Man discusses 5-day ordeal in canyon, explains how he broke bones to free self
Posted: May 8, 2003
6:00 p.m. Eastern
By Ron Strom
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Aron Ralston, the man who severed his right arm with a pocketknife to save his own life after being trapped by a boulder, talked about his ordeal for the first time today.
Ralston, 27, was pinned for five days by the 800-pound rock in a remote, narrow canyon in Utah. He told reporters although he ran out of water on Tuesday, April 29, he sensed a renewal of his strength on Thursday, May 1, a day he pointed out was the National Day of Prayer.
"I may never fully understand the spiritual aspects of what I experienced, but I will try," he said. "The source of the power I felt was the thoughts and prayers of many people, most of whom I will never know."
Flanked by his parents, Ralston explained he set out on his one-man hike on April 26, having gathered his supplies, including "three liters of water, four candy bars and two burritos."
His day began with a windy two and a half hour bike ride. He began hiking around noon, traveling with two young women. Later, Ralston set off on his own.
He described having to climb over a "serpentine" set of large rocks in a narrow canyon and how his right hand became trapped by a falling boulder.
"I was then pinned," Ralston said, approximating the time at 3 p.m. He says he still had one liter of water left.
"The next essentially five days until I was rescued I spent going through each option that I had," he explained. He spent time working on each option, which initially included waiting for rescue, chipping away at the rock and trying to use a pulley system to move the rock.
He said he never got the boulder to budge – "even microscopically."
Ralston said Tuesday, April 29, was the first day he seriously considered the option of severing his arm. He realized that was his only option left if he were to have enough strength to get to where a search crew could find him.
Preparing what he called his "surgical table," including a tourniquet, Ralston got his gear ready to carry out once he was free.
"I applied the knife to my arm … and it didn't even break the skin. The knife was still dull at that point," he said.
That night, Ralston says he then settled back in and drank the remainder of his water.
He said he made other attempts to sever his arm, but had difficulty doing so.
"I got so far as to puncture the skin and then found that I couldn't cut the bone," he said, "knowing that you can't cut the bone without a bone saw."
Ralston said the pocketknife he used to sever his arm was not a high-quality implement. He said it was "essentially what you would get if you bought a $15 flashlight and got a free multi-use tool."
By Thursday, Ralston realized he would have to break the two bones in his forearm to extricate himself.
"It occurred to me I might be able to break the bones," he explained. He said after a few minutes of applying the right torque, he was able to snap the bones at the wrist.
"From there, I had the knife out and applied the tourniquet and went to task," he said. "It was a process that took about an hour."
After freeing himself, Ralston found a pool of water at the bottom of the canyon and had his first drink in over 48 hours. He stocked up on water and set out for what he believed to be about an eight-mile hike.
He came upon some hikers from Holland who helped him carry his gear and gave him two Oreo cookies. A helicopter then plucked him out of the canyon and brought him to a hospital in Moab, Utah.
Ralston says the courage to do what he did came from "beyond me and my capacity."
"I felt that there was a greater presence than just me in that canyon," he said. "I felt the presence of several of my friends, my family. … There were visions I was having that were sort of like dreams."
Said Ralston: "The courage became more a matter of pragmatics than of 'could I withstand the actual actions I had to take.'"
He says he prayed for inspiration to come up with new ideas during his five days in the canyon.
Reflecting on the possibility he might die, Ralston commented, "What I was concerned with the most was leaving people behind in my life without the real opportunity" to express appreciation for them.
Ralston said when he's released from the hospital, he's looking forward to "a big, tall, fresh, tasty margarita. I thought a lot about margaritas while I was in there," he said.
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I just don't think I could ever do what he did.
I'd love to buy this dude "a big, tall, fresh, tasty margarita."
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