There are situations in life that test us, there is a key moment that we will bring to the last day of our existence. What happened to Aaron Ralston (47) It was really a before and after.
The American was a lover of nature and extreme expeditions. During one of his hikes through the Utah mountains in 2003, he got stuck on a rock and he had to cut off his arm to survive.
His story was told the year after the serious accident in an autobiography, and also made it to the big screen with the film 127 Hours, directed by Danny Boyle and starring James Franco. How did he manage to survive?
Between engineering and mountaineering
Aron Lee Ralston was born on October 27, 1975 in Ohio, United States of America. He lived in the state of Colorado as a child and at the age of 12 discovered his passion for hiking in the canyons.
He completed his secondary education and began his high school education at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he graduated. Besides being a sports lover, he always liked to learn new things: French and piano were some of his hobbies outside of extreme sports.
During his school and college days, Aron spent a lot of time playing sports. His friends, in the book about his life Between rock and hard (2004), recount Ralston’s love of nature: “The mountains gave him eternal tranquility.”
After his university studies, he started working as an engineer, but he never quite liked it. For this reason, in 2002, he decided to abandon his profession and devote himself completely to his dream: to be a professional mountaineer.
The excursion that changed his life
In April 2003, Aron decided to go on the hike of a lifetime. He packed his survival kit to spend the weekend in Tierra de Canones National Park in Utah. What seemed like a great challenge turned into a nightmare.
After starting his journey to Blue John Canyon, everything was going relatively well. The man leaned against a giant boulder, immersed in a cave, but fell on him and stuck on the canyon walls. The climber got his right arm stuck in a completely inappropriate place.
Aron spent 172 hours fighting his way free, but was unsuccessful. The desperate man grabbed his video camera and recorded himself waving, also hallucinating. Out of supplies of food and water, it was time to decide. The climber had a dream in which he saw himself with a little boy—who was presumably his son—and him missing an arm.
After this situation, driven by his strong emotion, he decided to apply pressure on his right arm with a tube and a rope, to prevent the blood flow to the affected part, and he cut his arm with his small expedition knife. It was more than 2 days of fighting but he made it.
After the limb was amputated, he had to drive 27 kilometers to the location of his vehicle. A Utah Medical Service helicopter was flying over the area, which located him and helped end his ordeal.
Doctors gave him emergency care because he had lost about 25% of his blood. Authorities collected the arm from the rock, handing it to Ralston, who then cremated it and scattered its ashes at the crash site. Aron, having recovered from the incident of his life, went on an expedition again in 2005 with his friends.
His story became known all over the world
When Aron Ralston’s story went public, he was instantly hailed as a hero. In July 2003 he appeared in the central program Late night show. This time her story was heard nationwide and with it her popularity increased.
The fateful incident brought Aron celebrity status and he started appearing in different public places. He even lent his voice to an episode of the animated series ”The Simpsons”.
In 2004, Ralston wrote his autobiography titled Between rock and hard, which immediately became a national best-seller. This story helped British director Danny Boyle get inspiration and turn it into a film.
The film was titled 127 Hours and the role of Aron Ralston was played by the actor James Franco. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and eight BAFTAs, while its box office receipts reached $60 million.
still climb mountains
In 2005, Ralston became the first person to climb all 53 mountains in Colorado, a project that began in 1998 and resumed after his amputation.
In 2008 he climbed the Nevado Ojos del Salado in kilos and to Mount Pissis in Argentina. That same year, he climbed Mount McKinley solo. A year later, he led an expedition with his friends up the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Aron continues with new projects, he has learned his lesson and when he goes on trips he always tells where he is going. Additionally, he has become a national speaker and tells his story of survival in several public places across the United States.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.