Schwa. Posted May 9, 2003 Report Share Posted May 9, 2003 I read this article this morning at work. You would never believe it. AND, in the picture on the front page of the SUN it shows him wearing his String Cheese Incident T-shirt . Fri, May 9, 2003 Will to live and a prayer set man free By AP GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Aron Ralston says the power of prayer gave him the courage to slice off his arm to save his life as he lay pinned under a boulder in a remote Utah canyon. "I'm not sure how I handled it," the mechanical engineer-turned-adventurer said yesterday in his first public comments since he walked, bloody and dehydrated, out of the canyon. "I felt pain and I coped with it. I moved on," said Ralston, 27, the stump of his right arm in a sling. On April 26, near Canyonlands National Park, Ralston became hopelessly pinned as he scrambled over three boulders wedged into a narrow canyon. One of the boulders, weighing an estimated 360 kilos, rolled as he climbed over it, trapping his right arm against a cliff face. He tried chipping away with his knife at the boulder and the cliff, and tried to rig a way to lift the boulder off himself with climbing gear. But, after three days, having gone through most of his three litres of water and his food -- two burritos and some crumbs in candy bar wrappers -- he decided to sacrifice his arm to save his life. Slim and pale with short reddish-brown hair, Ralston made frequent references to prayer and spirituality in his news conference. He said he felt a surge of energy on the third day, which happened to be 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." Ralston said he first took a dull pocketknife to his forearm after three days, but couldn't cut the skin. The next day, he went through the motions of applying a tourniquet, laying out bike shorts to use for padding. He worked out how to get through bone with the "multi-tool"-type knife he carried. On the fifth day, he summoned up technique and nerve to do what for most is unthinkable: "I was able to first snap the radius and then within another few minutes snap the ulna at the wrist and from there, I had the knife out and applied the tourniquet and went to task. It was a process that took about an hour," he said. On May 1, he crawled through a narrow, winding canyon, rappelled down a 20-metre cliff and walked 10 km down the southeastern Utah canyon. By the time he encountered hikers and then rescuers, Ralston was 3 km from the nearest road. Ralston described his knife as a cheap imitation of the Leatherman brand multi-tool, a folding device that typically has knife blades, pliers, screwdrivers and other gadgets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gentlemonkey Posted May 9, 2003 Report Share Posted May 9, 2003 that is crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooly Posted May 9, 2003 Report Share Posted May 9, 2003 unbafuckingbalievable, that guys got alot of guts. crazy what those cheeseheads will do when sci announces 4 nights at the warfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay sanislo Posted May 9, 2003 Report Share Posted May 9, 2003 wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooly Posted May 9, 2003 Report Share Posted May 9, 2003 this from another article i believe: What he had to say about some of the thoughts he was thinking as he was pinned under the boulder had me in tears. He was at first talking of weighing all his options and thinking out plans and then mentioned there were times he was a bit depressed and thinking it may be the end and experiencing regrets. But this quote just levelled me: "the best of times were when I got to think back over my life and recall so many great memories with all of my friends, my family, my relatives. Great trips that I've been on in the past and thinking of how much I really appreciated those individuals in my life, how many times I've been on and had experiences that I think any of us would be lucky to squeeze into a lifetime twice as long as mine has been so far. And I felt really happy during those moments, very proud of my sister, very proud of my parents and my family, very thankful that I've been able to enjoy the company of so many amazing and beautiful people over my life." no friggin way could i do waht this guy did. id be buzzard feed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted May 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2003 I agree totally. No way could i hack off my own arm and stay conscious long enough to hike further for help. The Ultimate Test of Character if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Low Roller Posted May 9, 2003 Report Share Posted May 9, 2003 I heard of this yesterday. This guy is my new HERO. The world needs more of him, and less dicks like Bush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted May 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2003 amen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcane Posted May 10, 2003 Report Share Posted May 10, 2003 Musta been one coyote-ugly boulder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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