Aron Ralston
Aron Ralston
Aron Lee Ralstonis an American outdoorsman, engineer and motivational speaker. He survived a canyoneering accident in southeastern Utah in 2003, during which he amputated his own right forearm with a dull pocketknife in order to extricate himself from a dislodged boulder, which had him trapped in Blue John Canyon for five days and seven hours. After he freed himself, he had to make his way through the remainder of the canyon, then rappel down a 65-footsheer cliff face in order...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRock Climber
Date of Birth27 October 1975
CountryUnited States of America
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.
Indeed, it has affirmed my belief that our purpose as spiritual beings is to follow our bliss, seek our passions, and live our lives as inspirations to each other.
It's me. I chose this. I chose all of this — this rock has been waiting for me my entire life. I’ve been moving towards it my whole life.
May your boulders be your blessings. May you be able to embrace them. And may you find what's extraordinary in yourself.
Everything happens for a reason, and part of that beauty of life is that we're not allowed to know those reasons for certain.
Adversity is the source of our deepest growth and greatest blessings; embrace it, dare to seek it.
I limited myself to one shout a day. But I didn't like the sound of my voice. It sounded panicked, it sounded scared. And I knew from experience you can't hear more than 50 yards either way down a canyon.
And that's where I'm finally at today - my life is about being with my family. This is what's important.
If you want someone to show up and help you if something bad happens, you'd better tell someone where you're going. And of course I wanted someone to know - but I'd made a choice and it was a choice I was going to have to live with.
Unless it was a fatal accident, which it doesn't sound like, psychologically it comes down to eating the elephant one bite at a time, (prioritizing) and taking care of the next thing you can do.
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, ... I think that says a lot about his character.
What I'm doing right here tonight is raise money and give those kids a second chance.
What you're looking at there is my arm, going into the rock... and there it is - stuck. It's been without circulation for 24 hours. It's pretty well gone.
When I climb a fourteener, a 14,000-foot/4,260-meter peak, in the winter by myself, I leave an itinerary and information about where my vehicle will be parked and the name of the county sheriff to contact in case I don't get home.