On another subject, could you do it?

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On another subject, could you do it?:

MOAB, Utah - A Colorado climber amputated his own arm Thursday, five days after becoming pinned by a boulder, and he was hiking to safety when he was spotted by searchers, authorities said. Aron Ralston, 27, of Aspen, was in serious condition late Thursday at a hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.

Ralston was climbing Saturday in Blue John Canyon, adjacent to Canyonlands National Park in far southwestern Utah, when a 200-pound boulder fell on him, pinning his right arm, authorities said. He ran out of water on Tuesday and on Thursday morning, he decided that his survival required drastic action. Using his pocketknife, he amputated his arm below the elbow and applied a tourniquet and administered first aid. He then rigged anchors, fixed a rope and rappelled to the canyon floor. He hiked downstream and was spotted about 3 p.m. by a Utah Public Safety Helicopter. The search for Ralston had begun the same morning, after authorities were notified he was four days overdue reporting for work.

Ralston was described by authorities as an avid outdoorsman in exceptional physical condition. They said he was known to have climbed 49 of Colorado's major peaks.
 
Originally posted by milefile
If it was that or die, yes.
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exactly. better to live with one arm, than not at all.

I've heard similar stories with lumberjacks getting their legs pinned by falling trees, and having to amputate. I never understood how it would be possible to cut through the femer bone with a pocket knife.

...or a bone in your arm, for that matter.
 
Yech...I just wouldn't climb a mountain like that in the first place. :\ How can you cut in between the bone?? Just thinking about it makes me cringe.
 
Awesome. Did he actually cut through the bone, or did he cut near his elbow, and rip through the tendons?

If I was in his situation, I think I could probably do it. Hell, he had a 1,000lb+ boulder pinned on his arm... his arm was probably numb, no?

(Another article I read said that when rescuers went back they reported that the boulder appeared to be much larger. They estimated it to be around 1,000lb in weight.)
 
Originally posted by Josh
Awesome. Did he actually cut through the bone, or did he cut near his elbow, and rip through the tendons?

If I was in his situation, I think I could probably do it. Hell, he had a 1,000lb+ boulder pinned on his arm... his arm was probably numb, no?

(Another article I read said that when rescuers went back they reported that the boulder appeared to be much larger. They estimated it to be around 1,000lb in weight.)
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I was thinking that a 200 lb. rock would probably be moveable, especially if your life depended on it, from any angle, and also especially if you're very fit, like this guy was.

It would suck wondering for the rest of your life if you could've saved your arm.
 
Maybe he was pinned in such a way that his back was to the ground?

Anyway, my question is why didn't he apply the tourniquet first, then cut off his arm? That would seem a lot less painful and definitely less bloody to me...
 
Hm.... back to the ground... actually.... i know why he didn't push it off now...
you don't get taht much mobility when ur arm is pinned...
 
It was a 1,000 lbs plus boulder, not 200lbs. I saw it on the news.

There was a story on TLC a while ago about a guy in a van that flipped off a bridge and into a forest late at night, and his arm(down towards his hand, wrist area really)was stuck under a tree branch under his van(he was sorta flung halfway out during the accident), and he was there for 4 days or something, living off of ketsup packets and stuff in his van. He ran out and then decided to cut his hand off, but by then his hand was dying, so it probably didn't hurt him to cut it.

I hope it never happens to me.
 
If he could reach around to cut it off, couldn't he reach around to remove the rock?

About a year ago, a fellow's van rolled off a highway and he cut off his hand after about two days to get out. Experts said he could've escaped without the amputation.

Edit - Well MazKid's heard it. I stand, uh, angry at slow typing skills.
 
No, I would never do such a thing to my body. I rather die than have a disfigurement for the rest of my life.
 
Originally posted by Viper Zero
No, I would never do such a thing to my body. I rather die than have a disfigurement for the rest of my life.
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Fairly vain, is it not? Or do you mean like disattached appendages, rather than appearance?
 
The subject does say "could you do it?" Well, I couldn't do it. If making that choice is vain, then so be it, I'm not cutting off my arm.
 
Hell yea..only thing I couldn't or wouldn't cut off is me willy...or johnson or richard or,,,you figure it out.
 
Well I'd think that you wouldn't get that part of the body stuck under an object you couldn't move...

Though that's your choice...
 
I had a really thoughtful question, but it slipped my mind. I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This wasn't it, but, you'd think that with all of the endocrine system working hard throughout the body that the person would become stronger. That, and if he was a skilled outdoorsman, then he should've known not to go out by himself, just in case something like that did happen....
 
Well, if you guys wanna see some people in a lot of pain and freak accidents, watch Impact: Stories of Survial on the Discovery Health Channel. Everything from a guy getting his skull compressed by a roller press to a guy getting his face and bones ripped off by a bear.

Not for the light hearted, my bro hates it when I eat and watch it at the same time.
 
Originally posted by Viper Zero
No, I would never do such a thing to my body. I rather die than have a disfigurement for the rest of my life.
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In this guy's situation I think I would cut off my arm.

But if I was mortally wounded in a car accident I'd rather be dead than go through months of rehabilitation to live a life that pails in comparison to the one I live now. Having those memories and not being able to create new ones that seems as wonderful to me would be a very difficult life to live.
 
It turns out he was in a canyon three feet wide and one-hundred feet deep. The boulder got wedged between the three-feet-wide walls and his arm, forcing him to cut it off. Given this, I'd have cut my arm off too.
 
No, life would be **** with one arm. I couldnt drive a car, write, play playstation and do every day things. I would need to live with someone to do all my work and look after me. Id rather die
 
I honestly could not answer that question. It's one of those "have to be in the moment" questions. But when I do think about it, I probably would. Very sick and cringing to think about...but..I think I would do it.

Now, if it was over 1,000 lbs, chances are the circulation in his arm was cut off, the tissue died, and his arm would have to have been amputated eventually. But God almighty that's serious strength to do that to yourself. Pure will power.

What I want to know is how he was able to cut through the bone with a pocket knife...? Must be the real special kind.

I really hope he does better.
 
Are you guys all that freaking stupid to think that in the five days he was stuck he wouldn't have moved the boulder if he could have. Come on!!!!
 
I would have gotten my arm outta there (mostly intact) one way or another.

That or someone would find my body later. I probably could do it, depending on how much feeling was left in my arm.

Originally posted by HRT_Maloo
I couldnt drive a car
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You can't drive a car with one arm? That's why they invented automatics and suicide knobs.
 
You could get a prosthetic arm...
 
There's no way I could chop my own arm off. :nervous:

Although I could do fingers, toes, etc.

What, couldn't this bloke find leaves to eat in the forest?
 

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