The man who had to amputate his right arm in order to save his life will make an appearance on the television game show Minute To Win It for charity.
You may have heard of Aron Ralston, the man who had to amputate his own arm with a dull knife after his arm became pinned by an 800 lb. boulder while hiking in 2003.
His story is miraculous and horrific at the same time. While hiking in Utah’s Blue John Canyon Aron Ralston’s arm was crushed and pinned by a massive boulder, trapping him in a remote area. He hadn’t informed anyone of his whereabouts and after five days of being unable to escape and living off a tiny amount of water he happened to have, he thought he was on death’s door. He carved his name, date of birth and assumed date of death on the rock. He videotaped a goodbye for his family. Then he decided he needed to take drastic action in order to save his own life.
Aron Ralston had a multi-use tool which he used to amputate his own arm in order to escape the boulder – and death. First he snapped his arm, breaking the bones. Then he cut the soft tissue of the arm with the dull blade. To cut through tendons he used the pliers, tearing at the tough tissue. Afterwards he used a tourniquet to keep from bleeding to death and he made his way to freedom.
These days Aron Ralston still hikes and climbs with the use of a prosthetic arm.
Aron Ralston will appear on Minute to Win It on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 and is playing for charity. You can catch a video preview here:
James Franco portrayed Aron Ralston in the film, 127 Hours. He is up for an Academy Award for the role.
