Remember the guy who sawed off his arm to save his life?

[JAG]

2 years later...he's still pretty amazing.

hxxp://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2138299

Updated: Aug. 19, 2005, 3:12 PM ET
Ralston's story has motivated, inspiredAssociated Press


ASPEN, Colo. -- As he sawed through the final strands of his own tissue and skin with a dull blade, Aron Ralston was overcome with emotion, awash in a wave of euphoria unlike anything he'd felt before.

Malnutrition and dehydration, delirium, searing pain -- none of it registered anymore. Held captive by a half-ton boulder at the bottom of a narrow canyon for five days, Ralston freed himself by severing his own arm, gaining an unexpected second chance at life.

Resigned to death the night before, Ralston felt more alive than ever, glowing from what he believed to be the close of one life and birth of another.

And he hasn't stopped living in the two years since.

"At this point, I've got the confidence to know that I'll get through anything in my life given I have the motivation to do it," Ralston said. "If it's an act of survival, we've all got a reason to keep living. It may not be pretty, but surviving is grit and determination in its highest form. I learned that I've got the capacity to do a hell of a lot more than I thought I could if I have the proper motivation."

By now, Ralston's survival story is well known.

Heading out on a relatively benign -- at least to an experienced mountaineer such as Ralston -- hike through a slot canyon in the Utah desert in April 2003, Ralston became trapped when a chockstone dislodged and trapped his right arm. With little food, less water and virtually no chance of being rescued, Ralston used drastic means to extend his life, from drinking his own urine to rigging ropes and webbing to support his weight.

Unable to budge the boulder with a makeshift pulley system or break it with a multi-tool, Ralston escaped by torquing his arm against the rock to break his bones, then ripping through his flesh with a small, dull knife.

His bloody stump wrapped in a makeshift sling, Ralston rappelled down a 60-foot drop, then hiked six miles through the desert before an improbable sequence of events, including stumbling across a family of hikers and getting to a helicopter just in time, helped save his life.

It was a staggering display of human will and survival, and the tale spread inspiration across the world.

"It really was a miracle that things just worked and fell into place," said Donna Ralston, who spent two frantic days coordinating rescue efforts for her son from her Denver-area home. "I feel like there was a reason why things happened in the way they did. It wasn't just happenstance."

She's not the only who sees it that way.

During his darkest moments in the bottom of the canyon, Ralston had a vision of a young boy. Unlike his previous visions that final night, Ralston said he was able to touch this one, lifting the boy upon his shoulder with an arm missing its right hand. Ralston had come to terms with his death the night before and now this boy, which he believed to be his future son, had given him a reason to live.

And Ralston has done just that.

Though the first few months after the accident were filled with surgeries, a kaleidoscope of painkillers and frustrating inactivity, it didn't take Ralston long to return to what he loves. It started with hiking and running with friends, and pretty soon he was back scaling 14,000-foot peaks, skiing summits and climbing ice walls.

Using prosthetics he helped develop, Ralston completed a nine-year project of scaling the highest point in all 50 states, then became the first person to solo climb all 59 of Colorado's fourteeners (14,000-foot peaks) in winter, crossing the last 14 off his list after the accident. In January, he summited Argentina's 22,840-foot Mt. Aconcagua, the world's highest mountain outside Asia, then climbed and skied 10 peaks of at least 13,000 feet in the spring.

Ralston also got into ultrarunning, first taking on the Leadville 100 high in the central Rockies, then testing his willpower and fitness in the diabolical Hardrock, a 100-mile race featuring 66,000 feet of elevation change. In case that wasn't enough, Ralston tried his hand at surfing, spent more time mountain biking and did all kinds of hiking and climbing.

That Ralston's love for the wilderness didn't diminish with his accident isn't a surprise; he's had a spiritual connection with the outdoors since he was a teenager.

What did change was Ralston's appreciation for those closest to him. Content with isolating himself and doing things on his own before, Ralston now makes sure family and friends are included in his life more and understands how much they mean to him.

"I think my spirituality is very similar to what it was before. It wasn't as if I went through some kind of enlightenment and figured out all the answers," said Ralston, who'll turn 30 next year. "I figured out what was important to me, but I knew that before. I just didn't express it as much to the people I appreciate, to my family and friends, and I've tried to be more practiced in that."

And it goes beyond his inner circle.

As his astonishing story of survival spread, Ralston was inundated with thousands of letters and e-mails from people thanking him for giving them inspiration. The correspondences continued and spiked again when his best-selling book, "Between a Rock and Hard Place," hit the shelves last fall.

Realizing his story meant so much to so many people, Ralston lifted the spirits of thousands more by reliving his ordeal in person. Sure, some of it is for profit, but most of his speaking engagements are for nonprofit organizations and fund-raisers, with plans to hit a few colleges later this year.

And while his speaking contracts have expired, Ralston keeps telling his story, the weight of obligation still too heavy for him to escape.

"We're proud of him because of the person he is and because he feels so strongly that he has a story that is inspirational, and he's willing to tell it over and over and share with other people and give people hope," Donna Ralston said. "I think that says a lot about his character."

As for the future, Ralston doesn't want to look too far ahead. His immediate plans include a tour for the paperback release of his book on Sept. 1, and more writing for magazines such as Men's Journal and Outside.

Ralston also plans to do more speaking, is in talks for a motion picture about his life and will continue running Ralstar Enterprises, the company he created to handle the opportunities that have come with his newfound fame.

Of course, there'll be plenty of time in the outdoors, too.

Ralston has been invited to climb in New Zealand this winter and will head to the Himalayas next year to ski a pair of 8,000-meter peaks. He's also planning to high-point all 50 states again, this time in 50 consecutive days, and would eventually like to climb K2, the world's second-highest mountain.

Beyond that, Ralston has no specific plans other than to meet the boy in his vision -- when the time is right.

"I think it's out there and it's not something that I treat lightly," Ralston said. "At the same time, I realized there's a lot that's going to have to change in my life before I become a father as far as how I live, my priorities, where I might live. When the time comes, that's something I want to be just as passionate about as how passionate I am in how I live."

[RPI-Fan]

I remember watching the 2-hour TV special with Tom Brokaw where he walked through his whole ordeal -- simply amazing.

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

"Ralston escaped by torquing his arm against the rock to break his bones, then ripping through his flesh with a small, dull knife."

I had a hard time reading past that point......ouch is an understatement

[terpkristin]

I had a hard time reading any of it, because he was a real dumbfuck in the way he did things and got extremely lucky. As a person who's done volunteer search and rescue (wilderness, cave, mountain, and river) for over 10 years now (since high school), I have a hard time giving a rats ass about him.

He did something stupid and go extraordinarily lucky in surviving. Kudos to him for surviving, but I frankly think he'd be better out of the gene pool.

/tk

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I had a hard time reading any of it, because he was a real dumbfuck in the way he did things and got extremely lucky. As a person who's done volunteer search and rescue (wilderness, cave, mountain, and river) for over 10 years now (since high school), I have a hard time giving a rats ass about him.

He did something stupid and go extraordinarily lucky in surviving. Kudos to him for surviving, but I frankly think he'd be better out of the gene pool.

/tk

Jeez, take it easy. I've seen people let drunk drivers off easier than that.

~rpi-fan

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I had a hard time reading any of it, because he was a real dumbfuck in the way he did things and got extremely lucky. As a person who's done volunteer search and rescue (wilderness, cave, mountain, and river) for over 10 years now (since high school), I have a hard time giving a rats ass about him.

He did something stupid and go extraordinarily lucky in surviving. Kudos to him for surviving, but I frankly think he'd be better out of the gene pool.

/tk

If you don't give a shit about people like him, why have you done so much volunteer search and rescue?

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

If you don't give a shit about people like him, why have you done so much volunteer search and rescue?

For the families.

And it's not just people like him who get lost. You can do all the right things and still get injured or lost. He just happened to be a total moron who got lucky. Out of the gene pool I say.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

If you don't give a shit about people like him, why have you done so much volunteer search and rescue?

I've edited this because really, I was a bitch with a knee-jerk response that if I'd allowed myself to cool down for a minute before writing it, probably wouldn't have.

Again, Schmidty, I'm sorry for the sentiment I expressed here and (as I've said elsewhere in the thread), I do SAR for:
1. families
2. people who get legitimately lost or hurt or whatever else may cause them to need searching and rescuing
3. finally, for the stupid people, though what really riles me about this guy is that he's become a hero for surviving after doing something really stupid and it makes other people think they can do the same things...and, in reality, he was insanely lucky and probably most people (statistically speaking anyway) won't be so lucky, which is just an unfortunate state of affairs all the way around.


/tk

[Anthony]

i have one question:

if my arm is ever stuck in a boulder what would be the best place to break my arm? at the elbow? mid-forearm? mid-tibula? at the shoulder? where would i experience the least amount of pain.

i need to know this, just in case.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

i have one question:

if my arm is ever stuck in a boulder what would be the best place to break my arm? at the elbow? mid-forearm? mid-tibula? at the shoulder? where would i experience the least amount of pain.

i need to know this, just in case.

Interesting question. Any docs here know the answer to it? (Though it's not mid-tibia or fibula, those are in the leg, I think you meant the upper arm...the humerus?)

/tk

EDIT: And I apologize to Schmidty but your question hit a very raw nerve. And the absolute truth of the matter is that in any type of SAR you find your idiots who do something stupid and really, probably WOULD be better out of the gene pool, but you also find (more often than not) legit cases where 'all the right things' were done and still, a person is lost or injured (true injuries when hiking in a group, changes in weather patterns that aren't forecasted thus harder to deal with, small kids getting separated from parents, patients with mental disorders wandering away from care, and other unforseen problems--avalanches and changing ice conditions on mountains come to mind in that realm...).

In particular, my BIG problem with this guy is that he's been made a hero for being stupid and lucky. He is insanely lucky and his luck makes others think they might have the same luck...and do stupid things. And that's a travesty and then some.

[Anthony]

i thought the leg was the fibula. oh well. inquiring minds wanna know. i want to save myself as much pain as possible if i'm ever in the same situation.

also, on a slightly separate note - which part of my arm would break easiest?

i'm not sure if i'd want to go for the least amount of pain, or the least amount of attempts to break my arm bones. that's the part that grosses me out - picturing having to break my arm and not getting it right the first time. i don't even know how to break my arm. how could i do that?

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Interesting question. Any docs here know the answer to it? (Though it's not mid-tibia or fibula, those are in the leg, I think you meant the upper arm...the humerus?)

/tk

EDIT: And I apologize to Schmidty but your question hit a very raw nerve. And the absolute truth of the matter is that in any type of SAR you find your idiots who do something stupid and really, probably WOULD be better out of the gene pool, but you also find (more often than not) legit cases where 'all the right things' were done and still, a person is lost or injured (true injuries when hiking in a group, changes in weather patterns that aren't forecasted thus harder to deal with, small kids getting separated from parents, patients with mental disorders wandering away from care, and other unforseen problems--avalanches and changing ice conditions on mountains come to mind in that realm...).

In particular, my BIG problem with this guy is that he's been made a hero for being stupid and lucky. He is insanely lucky and his luck makes others think they might have the same luck...and do stupid things. And that's a travesty and then some.

No problem TK. I sent you a PM to figure out what the heck I did wrong. No harm, no foul.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Your reponse to the guy seemed unbelievably harsh, and I wanted to know why.

I dunno how "unbelieveably harsh" it was ... my reaction was (as it was originally), pretty much "What a lucky freakin' idiot this guy is" ... she's just closer to the situation & felt like saying it.

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

Im about to puke HA just stop...just stop

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I dunno how "unbelieveably harsh" it was ... my reaction was (as it was originally), pretty much "What a lucky freakin' idiot this guy is" ... she's just closer to the situation & felt like saying it.

Yeah, he was lucky as hell, I just think of how many mistakes all of us make in life. Plus, the guy already paid the price for his stupidity. But everyone's entitled to their opinions.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by TheOhioStateUniversity

Im about to puke HA just stop...just stop

suit yourself man...but you'll regret not knowing these things if you ever are in a similar situation.

[Airhog]

HA: I dont think you would have a choice about where to break it. The leverage point would have been where his arm was stuck, so I am sure that is where he broke it...

[B & B]

Originally Posted by TheOhioStateUniversity

Im about to puke HA just stop...just stop

Why you scared?

(no comma)