| Author | Message | ||
     Andrew Maier (Newman) New Member Username: Newman Post Number: 7 Registered: 04-2003 |
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-05-01-climber-amputate_x.htm | ||
| Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Senior Member Username: Gregdavis Post Number: 837 Registered: 08-2002 |
I CANNOT imagine having to do something like that. Can yo imagine what type of nerve it took to make the first cut? | ||
| joshua Frances (Joshua) Member Username: Joshua Post Number: 192 Registered: 10-2002 |
Greg..Im with ya...I had trouble just gettinga fish hook out of my shoulder blade when I was 13. i cant imagine playing Maguyver with my swiss champ and my elbow area...UGH! joshua | ||
| Tripp Westbrook (Tripp) Member Username: Tripp Post Number: 133 Registered: 08-2002 |
Heard this on the radio this morning. All I can say is, "Balls. That guy's got 'em." | ||
| Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) Moderator Username: Kyle Post Number: 262 Registered: 11-2002 |
I imagine that after laying there for a few days with the boulder on his arm. Most of the senses were probably gone. Getting over the mental part is only difficult until death becomes a reality. Big balls though , definately big balls.. Kyle "Blow me" | ||
| Jess Alvarez (Jester) Member Username: Jester Post Number: 158 Registered: 11-2002 |
Big balls! Imagine having to get through the BONE with a pocket knife. Ugh. | ||
| Rob Davison (Nosivad_bor) Senior Member Username: Nosivad_bor Post Number: 296 Registered: 02-2003 |
that's what the little saw is for. rd | ||
| John Moore (Jmoore) Senior Member Username: Jmoore Post Number: 611 Registered: 10-2002 |
Jesus Christ! Makes my stomach turn! | ||
| John Kruger (Johnnyk) Member Username: Johnnyk Post Number: 205 Registered: 02-2002 |
Being prepared is a state of mind! I wonder if the search and rescue would have found him if he had stayed put? John www.teampb.com | ||
| David Marchand (Dmarchand) Member Username: Dmarchand Post Number: 132 Registered: 09-2002 |
I was thinking the same as John. If they had just started looking that day, it must suck to think about what "could have been", and what choice he had to make. Wait and perhaps die after running out of water, or cut the arm.... That's a tough story. | ||
| Curtis N (Curtis) Senior Member Username: Curtis Post Number: 459 Registered: 05-2002 |
As a side note: A Colorado paper ran a story on him yesterday (the day he was found). The story was about him escaping death in an avalanche a couple of months ago. Pure coincedince. | ||
| Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) Moderator Username: Kyle Post Number: 265 Registered: 11-2002 |
"Get busy livin , or get busy dyin"..... And Rob , "Let me tell you a story about this watch" Kyle "Blow me" | ||
| R. B. Bailey (Rover50987) Senior Member Username: Rover50987 Post Number: 538 Registered: 07-2002 |
I would have just chewed through it on the first day. | ||
| John Moore (Jmoore) Senior Member Username: Jmoore Post Number: 614 Registered: 10-2002 |
"Let me tell you a story about this watch" LOL! Kyle - One of my favorite movies! | ||
| Sabine Dawn (Sabine_dawn) New Member Username: Sabine_dawn Post Number: 19 Registered: 04-2003 |
Makes a good point for telling someone where you are going and when you'll be back. One version of that story I read said his work notified authorities on Thursday after he hadn't been to work for *4* days (imagining thursday was the 4th day). Now, if he had told someone the general area he was going and that he should be back by Monday in the AM, they would have been looking for him 3 days sooner. Even if they didn't know exactly where he went and he couldn't be seen from the air, I gotta imagine the guy had a whistle and could have signaled for help some if someone on the ground was looking for him. I also don't like what I percieve as the misorder of steps in the reporting (I saw the same thing on CNN). Wouldn't you put a tourniquet on BEFORE you started cutting? Especially when you only have one hand to work with.  Other than that, the man is some kind of badass for doing it and then rigging and rapping down 60ft to then walk out. But in the end, it's like that guy and chick who got stuck in mud/snow in southern Utah not long ago and the chick died. If someone knew where they were going and when they should be back, it was entirely avoidable. Granted in this case his arm, under a 1/2 ton stone, was probably lost. But at least he wouldn't have been thirsty. SD | ||
| Jim H. (Victor_mature) New Member Username: Victor_mature Post Number: 31 Registered: 02-2003 |
Okay, cutting your arm off with a knife is a staggering display of cajones all by itself but then, he fashions a tournaquet (one-handed) AND sets rapel anchors AND repels down off the rock (one handed) AND starts walking out down the river? Holy shit! How could he walk with balls that big? | ||
| Brian Friend (Brianfriend) Senior Member Username: Brianfriend Post Number: 750 Registered: 09-2002 |
that guy is a stud. Bet he writes a book | ||
| Alec (Cohummerowner) New Member Username: Cohummerowner Post Number: 19 Registered: 02-2003 |
I wonder if something like a survival instinct just takes over? Amazing. | ||
| M. K. Watson (Lrover94) Senior Member Username: Lrover94 Post Number: 759 Registered: 02-2002 |
BIG BRASS BALLS!!!! mike w | ||
| Stacey R Abend (Srafj40) Member Username: Srafj40 Post Number: 74 Registered: 03-2003 |
The only way that this guy is going to write a book is if he is left handed. Stacey | ||
| Christopher Dynak (Adtoolco) Member Username: Adtoolco Post Number: 205 Registered: 08-2002 |
Bad Stacey, very bad... | ||
| Stacey R Abend (Srafj40) Member Username: Srafj40 Post Number: 75 Registered: 03-2003 |
All of a sudden Dweb is a place where one has some feelings. :-)LOL Sorry, why did this guy not have a climbing partner etc.... Stacey | ||
| Greg French (Gregfrench) Senior Member Username: Gregfrench Post Number: 360 Registered: 11-2002 |
I wonder what he did with the arm? Is it still under the boulder? Do you just leave it there or what? | ||
| Dan Watson (Dwatson) New Member Username: Dwatson Post Number: 25 Registered: 02-2003 |
When I first read the story they stated the rock was 200 lb, its 1000 lb now which makes his actions a little easier to understand. I would assume that not much was left of the part under the rock, and he probably didn’t have to cut through the bone. Just cut through the arm where the bone was smashed/broken. Still, not a decision I would want to have to make. | ||
| Richard Dekkard (Richard_dekkard) New Member Username: Richard_dekkard Post Number: 26 Registered: 04-2003 |
Dan, Im with you.. the facts keep changing on this story.. When I first heard it on the radio here in Boulder, the first thing I thought was if the rock was 200lbs why didnt he just push it off himself.. I dont see why a fit 27 year old couldnt get his legs or torso in a way to push it off.. Then I was thinking, how did they know it was 200lbs.. did they weigh it? So I knew one element had to be BS.. either the 200lbs or the cutting of his arm.. maybe the boulder severed it off mostly already with a jagged edge? who knows, but I still give the guy major kudos for making it out.. | ||
| Lawrence Tilly (L_tilly) Member Username: L_tilly Post Number: 148 Registered: 02-2002 |
Yeah, he made some bad choices which could have prevented or at least mitigated this disaster (out there alone, no one "at home" with his schedule and location, etc). But that being said, the man was in a very bad situation and it was about to get worse(out of water). He made a choice which may not have been the best one (it's easy to play arm-chair strategest), but it was obviously good enough to save his life. I think the part that I find most inspiring is that he had that strong of a will to live. When I went thru Survival School in the USAF, that was the part that was drilled into us more than any technique. It doesn't matter what you carry with you, or what you have studdied and read. If you lack the will to live, you will probably not survive. And if you're will is There told us so many stories about people who "gave up" a day, or sometimes just a couple hours before rescue would have arrived. This man had that will and to spare. He not only hung on for days, he came to the decision (true or not, we'll never know) that he waited long enough for someone else to find him and he did what he needed to get himself out of there. USAF Survival School "Law of Threes": When everything goes to hell, you can survive for three weeks without food, three days without water and three minutes without air. But you won't make it three seconds with out the will to live. Lawrence lnctilly@metrocast.net 96 Disco "Beowulf" NH, USA | ||
| Dan Watson (Dwatson) New Member Username: Dwatson Post Number: 29 Registered: 02-2003 |
An update, seems he broke the bones himself so he could cut through the arm, and yes he has huge gonads. http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/05/08/climber.amputation/index.html | ||
| Brian Friend (Brianfriend) Senior Member Username: Brianfriend Post Number: 811 Registered: 09-2002 |
I just read that too. Damb that guy is tough. | ||
| Paul Long (Humveewannabe) New Member Username: Humveewannabe Post Number: 34 Registered: 03-2003 |
You guys never heard about the guy that worked at the saw mill? After cutting all his fingers off, he was able to drive himself to the hospital! When he got there a doctor told him he should have brought the fingers. With all the new technology, they could have reattached them back to working order. He said "but doc, I couldn't pick 'em up"! | ||
| Stacey R Abend (Srafj40) Member Username: Srafj40 Post Number: 82 Registered: 03-2003 |
I have a buddy that is a Hot Shot and another that works Strucure/Wildlands. Both have worked with this guy. Not cutting your own arm off, however hiking out with 3rd degree burns and seared lungs does not sound like fun. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0517lupe17.html Stacey |
