What would you do in a life or death situation? What would you give up to save your life? Could you give up your house or your car? Could you give up all the money in your bank account? How much could you give up? Could you give up your own arm? What if your life depended on it? Could you cut your own arm off? In 2003, Aron Ralston was in that kind of life or death situation. He was hiking in a desert canyon when something terrible happened. He fell, and his arm became trapped under a big rock. There was no one to help him. He had only two choices. He could die or he could cut his arm off to escape.
Aron was an experienced adventure athlete. In 2002, he quit his job as an engineer and set a world record for climbing. He became the first person to climb all of Colorado’s largest mountains alone in winter. He was not afraid of danger. In 2003, he was almost killed by an avalanche while skiing. Later that same year he almost lost his life while hiking. He didn’t expect it to be dangerous, so he made a very big mistake. He didn’t tell anyone where he was going. On the first day he hiked about 20 miles into the desert when he fell into a hole. As he fell, he moved a large rock that weighed 360 kilos. The rock landed on his arm. He was trapped. He was alone in the desert, and no one knew where he was.
Aron knew that help was not coming. He immediately thought of cutting off his arm.