With the premiere of the movie 127 hours the world has been reminded of the incredibly heroic story of Aron Ralston. Ralston's rise to heroism is perhaps one of the most pronounced illustrations of a triumphant underdog. Ralston was Canyoning in Blue John canyon in Utah in May of 2003 when he became trapped by a dislodged boulder that crushed his lower right arm and left him hopelessly pinned against a canyon wall.Ralston remained trapped in the Canyon for five days during which he endured a 127-hour struggle for his life. Having failed to inform anyone where he had gone hiking, Ralston knew his odds of being rescued were slim to none. He was therefore forced to rely on his own recourses, ingenuity, and will to live in order to survive.
While trapped in the Canyon, Ralston only had a days hike worth of food and water. Ralston managed to ration his recourses wisely but eventually had to resort to drinking his own urine. Battling extreme temperatures, sever dehydration, and an open wound, it was miraculous that Ralston kept himself alive for five days. By the fifth day however, Ralston had begun to loose hope. He carved his name, birthday and presumed date of death into a Canyon wall and videotaped a farewell to his family.Here in the darkest moments of Ralston's struggle is where his heroism was born. He had been attempting to chip away the boulder that was trapping his arm with a less then equipped knife he received as a free gift with a flashlight. Already of low quality the knife had been severely dulled by his chiseling efforts. Nevertheless, Ralston made the incredible decision to amputate his own arm. Devising a tourniquet to staunch the blood flow, Ralston managed to break both his arm bones with a rock and use the dull knife to cut through his flesh. Already incredibly weak, Ralston managed to stay conscious during his efforts and succeeded in severing his arm. After his makeshift surgery, Ralston had to hike out of the canyon, rappel down a 65-foot drop, and hike out in the sun until two hikers happened to come across him. Ralston was finally rescued by a helicopter six hours later thus successfully concluding the battle for his life.Since his accident, Ralston has made a full recovery and continues to mountain climb with the aid of a paraplegic device. Additionally, he appears as a motivational speaker and explains his near death experience as a turning point that has allowed him to better appreciate his life and the people in it.While Ralston's story is a gruesome tale it is nevertheless heroic as it reminds us of the extreme suffering an individual can endure in order to triumph in the end.The following is a trailer for the movie 127 hours: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDT0wM6aDXU&NR=1
2 thoughts on “Aron Ralston: The Survivor Hero”
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I would not consider someone to be a hero just for surviving. Most people survive every day. Cutting your arm off with a dull blade seems heroic, although he kind of put himself in a bad situation where the chances of such an awful thing happening are much higher. I think he is a hero for doing what he loves, but survival is a defining aspect of the human struggle. Self preservation. Heroes have bigger things to worry about than their own survival.
I don’t think hero is the right word either, not that he deserves less credit or something. When people call him a hero I think they want to acknowledge how lucky he is to be alive–after such a horrible experience. We’re all suckers for that story: man faces unconquerable obstacles and somehow manages to beat them. Maybe what seems heroic about him–besides the fact that he cut off his own arm–is that he seems to have cheated fate. He could have died a half dozen different ways-heat exhaustion, blood loss, crush syndrome.. Perhaps we can say ‘hero’ about a person who has conquered his death, even if what he conquers is only for himself.