Lumberjim, this one's for you...

Amazing Story of Willpower


This one is about Aron Ralston, a hiker whose arm got trapped by a boulder while he was hiking in the mountains. He cut off his own arm with a pocketknife to escape. I saw it in the newspaper yesterday, and thought it was just the most amazing thing. How many of us could do that?

Lumberjim, you're always bitchin' about how all I post is depressing. Well, this one isn't, and it's just for you.


Sidhe

edit: it also includes an aside about Bill Jeracki, a fisherman who, likewise trapped by boulders, cut off his own leg to survive.. Two inspirational stories for the price of one. Seems to me they ought to do something about those boulders, though---put up a sign or something, ya know?

Are you in the habit of reading very old newspapers?

One guy loses an arm and the other a leg. Well, thanks for not posting anything depressing. :yelsick:

That was a recent report. Besides, it's not depressing. I think it's actually damned amazing. I don't think I'd be able to save myself by performing an amputation with a pocketknife. An AXE, maybe, but not a pocketknife. The will that some people possess just blows my mind sometimes.

You're just NEVER satisfied, are ya? Nag, nag, nag, bitch, bitch, bitch...:stickpoke


Sidhe

Lady Sidhe wrote:

That was a recent report.

May 2, 2003? Anyway, it's a cool story. Aron went to my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon.

I think I'd rather lose a leg. I'm typing with both of my Gangs of Five right now, and It's a rather cool thing. Plus I can remove my carbon fiber leg and beat people with it. :D

We had us a plucky farm boy few years back, trapped, bleeding out in the field a good long while, he sawed off his arm (or completed the severance) that got caught in the combine or such. yikes.

"It's an amazing story about a young hiker, his arm trapped under an 800-pound boulder, facing an impossible choice. With death closing in, he made heartbreaking tapes for his family and then a bold decision. You can read an excerpt of "Between a Rock and a Hard Place," by Aron Ralston, below. Note: There is some graphic language."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5954087/

Lady Sidhe wrote:

That was a recent report.
You're just NEVER satisfied, are ya? Nag, nag, nag, bitch, bitch, bitch...:stickpoke


Sidhe

From the link;

Hiker Aron Ralston Cuts Off Own Arm to Survive. May 2, 2003

Ok, it's a reprint. Just filling in for LJ. :p

xoxoxoBruce wrote:

From the link;
Ok, it's a reprint. Just filling in for LJ. :p

I first saw it in the Times-Picayune last week. I didn't feel like typing up the whole article, so I googled it and posted the first link I found.

Besides, it doesn't matter how old it is--it's still a damned amazing act of willpower.


So there


:p

Sidhe

Lady Sidhe,

In retrospect, your post was an amazing bit of synchronicity.

I saw your original post last Friday during the day. That evening, while we were watching a DVD, my wife got a phone call. So I paused the DVD and switched to broadcast TV (something I seldom do). What's on? Tom Brokaw interviewing this Aron guy and walking with him through the canyon he escaped from.

This is all because his book was just published. :)

Ah.

Eh.

dar512 wrote:

Lady Sidhe,

In retrospect, your post was an amazing bit of synchronicity.

I saw your original post last Friday during the day. That evening, while we were watching a DVD, my wife got a phone call. So I paused the DVD and switched to broadcast TV (something I seldom do). What's on? Tom Brokaw interviewing this Aron guy and walking with him through the canyon he escaped from.

EXACTLY! That's what was in the Times-Pic--the story about Brokaw interviewing the guy. That's the picture that was in the paper also, the two of them walking out there.


Sidhe