'127 Hours' Climber Aron Ralston — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00[Applause]
2. 0:00after being trapped in a remote Canyon
3. 0:02for six excruciating days our next guest
4. 0:04did the unthinkable he amputated his own
5. 0:07arm to save his life his book between a
6. 0:09rock and a hard place is already in New
7. 0:11York Times bestseller please welcome
8. 0:13mountain climber Aaron Rolston
9. 0:16[Applause]
10. 0:20[Music]
11. 0:22[Applause]
12. 0:27[Music]
13. 0:28[Applause]
14. 0:33[Music]
15. 0:40[Applause]
16. 0:59here want to dance I know we're not
17. 1:01talking about the book right dance the
18. 1:03entire time oh man I don't blame you I'd
19. 1:06want to dance uh this much too if I were
20. 1:09you well seeing is how the jump over the
21. 1:11chair kiss was already taken tonight I
22. 1:13figured I'd go for the extended dance
23. 1:14you could have done that too oh now it's
24. 1:17there I missed the the opportunity I'm
25. 1:21surprised that's what I expected from
26. 1:23you you didn't give it to me um I thank
27. 1:26you for the robe though I got mine see
28. 1:28you got a robe he's lying I know he he
29. 1:30got he got a Rob he got a book now too
30. 1:32so yeah and I want you to sign mine my
31. 1:34mother took mine and started reading it
32. 1:36and didn't give it back to me and and
33. 1:38said it's right now uh no no sign it
34. 1:40later it's actually that's a pointer for
35. 1:42the liil l oh that wouldn't have gotten
36. 1:43very far then no you can point at the
37. 1:45book and tell me that that's where
38. 1:46you'll sign it you can point to where
39. 1:48you'll want to sign it okay
40. 1:51um so all right I I assume everybody
41. 1:54knows the story and I know you're sick
42. 1:55and and there's only a little bit I want
43. 1:57to touch on because I know you're
44. 1:58probably tired of telling it but there
45. 2:00other questions I have for you but tell
46. 2:02everybody sort of what happened that day
47. 2:05I was I was out by myself I was in a
48. 2:07canyon uh a Slot Canyon very deep uh
49. 2:10narrow Canyon and I pulled a boulder
50. 2:12down on my arm it was in Pro in the
51. 2:14process of moving over a drop off that
52. 2:17this Boulder was wedged between just the
53. 2:19walls that were about 3 feet apart and I
54. 2:22stood on the boulder I was working my
55. 2:24way off of it trying to get down to the
56. 2:26continuing Canyon floor and by my body
57. 2:29weight it shifted as I dangled from it
58. 2:31and I pulled it loose the my my instinct
59. 2:35was to drop off of the Boulder and then
60. 2:38I'm on the canyon floor looking up and
61. 2:39it's falling from my head I put my hands
62. 2:42up in front of my face to try to push
63. 2:44myself back and and the boulder came in
64. 2:47contact crushing my my left hand first
65. 2:49then R ricocheting off the wall crushing
66. 2:52my right hand and then it it rotated
67. 2:54just slightly as my hand was pushing
68. 2:56against it and it slotted itself in a
69. 2:59new section between the two Canyon walls
70. 3:02being held about three feet off the
71. 3:04ground by the left Canyon wall my hand
72. 3:07and the right Canyon wall so so you're
73. 3:10basically and you you're there for in
74. 3:13that position for six days yeah the the
75. 3:15first day of it was very optimistic
76. 3:17thinking that I'd be able to get out
77. 3:19somehow and even considering amputating
78. 3:21my arm but through the the course of
79. 3:24those days and especially the nights
80. 3:25just it
81. 3:26was yeah what the I mean the nights were
82. 3:29were freezing cold it was it was cold
83. 3:31there was The Thirst from the
84. 3:33dehydration that I was suffering hunger
85. 3:35the the claustrophobia of being in this
86. 3:37very small spot how high were the walls
87. 3:39like 30t high 80t high it was it was
88. 3:41like being in the bottom of a very small
89. 3:43Elevator Shaft a well that uh I came to
90. 3:47recognize that I was not going to get
91. 3:48out of there I couldn't amputate my arm
92. 3:50I couldn't chip away at the boulder I
93. 3:51couldn't lift it off of me even with the
94. 3:52climbing ropes and apparata that I had
95. 3:55and and your left hand had been crushed
96. 3:57also so you have one one good hand
97. 3:59that's in
98. 4:00yeah and and you have basically this is
99. 4:02the pocket knife right yeah and and also
100. 4:05what was amazing is you took the rope
101. 4:07that you had because you were standing
102. 4:08up and kind of made a a seat out of it
103. 4:11so once in a while you could lift your
104. 4:13legs up yeah I I got myself as
105. 4:15comfortable as I possibly could be but
106. 4:17at the same time it was utter hell being
107. 4:20in that spot the kns got down to 37 Dees
108. 4:23to the the last one I was in shorts and
109. 4:25a t-shirt the the depredation that my
110. 4:28body went through because you didn't
111. 4:30sleep you you didn't allow yourself to
112. 4:32sleep so that you wouldn't I would have
113. 4:34loved to have slept it was it was sleep
114. 4:36deprivation because of the cold and all
115. 4:38the pain that I Ian I had this Boulder
116. 4:39on my hand and it's it was then into the
117. 4:43fifth night I knew I was going to die
118. 4:45there there was no question about it
119. 4:46rusky was not going to come I couldn't
120. 4:48amputate my arm because that knife was
121. 4:50too dull it would never get through the
122. 4:51bones and I was in my grave so you you
123. 4:56decided all of a sudden you realized you
124. 4:58could do something which was an amazing
125. 5:01realization it it wasn't it wasn't so
126. 5:03much that I realized but I think it was
127. 5:06an epiphany given to me a Divine
128. 5:07interaction that was waiting for a very
129. 5:09precise moment to come into my life
130. 5:12because at that same time unbeknownst to
131. 5:14me but 8 Miles Away where my truck was
132. 5:17Rescuers for the first time had come
133. 5:19upon it knew that it was the vehicle
134. 5:21they' been looking for and began an
135. 5:24operation that ultimately placed a
136. 5:25helicopter in the canyon the the
137. 5:29epiphany that came to me at that exact
138. 5:31same moment was that I could actually
139. 5:33use the leverage of this Boulder holding
140. 5:35my hand as though imagine a 2x4 stuck in
141. 5:39a a table Vie and bending it enough that
142. 5:42I bent my arm until the forces
143. 5:45concentrated and broke first the upper
144. 5:47bone then moving my body around until I
145. 5:50broke that second bone and it was the
146. 5:52best idea that has ever come to me in my
147. 5:54life there's nothing so powerful as an
148. 5:57idea whose time is six days overdue is
149. 5:59as it was for me but that led to what
150. 6:02was I think the part of the story that
151. 6:04people know the best that I I used the
152. 6:06pocket knife then to amputate my arm and
153. 6:09and essentially give me my life back
154. 6:11yeah well uh and then you then there was
155. 6:14still more to do after that but uh we
156. 6:17have to take a break and we come back I
157. 6:18have so many questions for you oh we're
158. 6:21back with Aon rolon we've been dancing
159. 6:22like crazy I like it um I just want to
160. 6:25finish really quickly just because I I
161. 6:28have so many other questions to ask you
162. 6:29but just finish the story about once you
163. 6:31got out uh the the rescue the most
164. 6:35beautiful thing that has ever happened
165. 6:36to me in my life was the amputation
166. 6:39getting free the Euphoria I felt at that
167. 6:41time as I got through the last part of
168. 6:44my arm was by far the the most powerful
169. 6:48positive sense of joy of being alive
170. 6:51that I will ever feel in my life what
171. 6:53came after that then was a prolonged
172. 6:55effort to maintain that life uh 80 yards
173. 6:59of hiking down through the canyon a 65-
174. 7:01ft repel that I had to set up using that
175. 7:03same rope that I had with me lowering
176. 7:05myself off of it hoping that I didn't
177. 7:07pass out and and drop myself that while
178. 7:10bleeding you've lost 45 lbs you haven't
179. 7:13slept it's been six days you're you're
180. 7:16you know weak as can be and and trying
181. 7:18to now it it it's one of the many
182. 7:20miracles that that came to me over the
183. 7:22course of this experience that I did not
184. 7:24die after doing what I did to to give
185. 7:27myself The Liberation that I got to the
186. 7:30bottom of that repel I found water for
187. 7:32the first time this pool that was there
188. 7:34putrid as it was but also sweet as the
189. 7:36finest port wine I've ever tasted and
190. 7:39that I had seven miles to hike through
191. 7:41the desert through that I I had to
192. 7:43maintain that water source the supply
193. 7:45that I could carry with me I had to
194. 7:47maintain my energy and then at the time
195. 7:50when I thought there there was no way I
196. 7:52was going to be able to hike myself up
197. 7:53out of this 800t deep Canyon now as as
198. 7:55it had gotten deeper and deeper that a
199. 7:58helicopter arrived D overhead in the
200. 8:00canyon and the synchronicity of those
201. 8:03those colliding universes of me not
202. 8:05knowing anything that had happened
203. 8:07outside of the canyon and the rescue not
204. 8:09knowing what I I'd gone through and the
205. 8:12intersection there within a window that
206. 8:15spanned about an hour uh had I been any
207. 8:17earlier any later that rescue any
208. 8:20earlier any later and I would have died
209. 8:23even despite everything I'd gone through
210. 8:24up to that time because they were going
211. 8:25back to get more gas they were they were
212. 8:27they knew the area they saw your car and
213. 8:29they de Ed they were just going to do it
214. 8:30on foot which is amazing now and and
215. 8:33what's what's really incredible is your
216. 8:34attitude that that you just are so
217. 8:37positive and so joyful and had a sense
218. 8:39of humor through the entire
219. 8:43thing
220. 8:47because
221. 8:49you're you know I mean you saw a little
222. 8:51bit he's dancing in in the breaks and
223. 8:53and you know I talked to you before the
224. 8:55show started and and I've seen you on TV
225. 8:57talking about this before you're so uh
226. 9:00you're so positive there's not one ounce
227. 9:02of you feel sorry for yourself there's
228. 9:04no anger there's no anything you you
229. 9:06said it was the most you said something
230. 9:08in the book about understanding the the
231. 9:11higher spiritual powers that that
232. 9:13actually that it is the greatest
233. 9:15experience that will ever come to me in
234. 9:17my life and it has given my life I think
235. 9:19such a a deeper meaning Martin was
236. 9:22talking about this this pyramid of of
237. 9:24priorities in our lives I came to
238. 9:25recognize those I had I had a six day
239. 9:29with myself about what is important in
240. 9:31my life and seeing that it's exactly
241. 9:34what he talked about my spirituality my
242. 9:36friends my family you know the the money
243. 9:38and career things you know I had no
244. 9:41regrets having been focused on those
245. 9:44higher priorities having let the career
246. 9:46and the money take care of themselves as
247. 9:48they might and living my dreams and
248. 9:50that's what I've gotten back to with
249. 9:52with after all of
250. 9:53this and and you're still climbing still
251. 9:57climing and you have you have an
252. 9:58apparatus that helps you climb better
253. 10:00you have something that gets into the
254. 10:02ice that you're now you're cheating
255. 10:04you're actually is what it is yeah my my
256. 10:07hand doesn't get cold
257. 10:08anymore so there are benefits to it yeah
258. 10:11in some ways I I can I can dip my uh my
259. 10:14prosthetic into a Boiling Pot of water
260. 10:16if I drop the spoon in there to get fire
261. 10:19they call you to get it yeah now so and
262. 10:22and do you what is the hardest thing
263. 10:24what is the one thing that you're having
264. 10:25to or do you just go you know what this
265. 10:27is who I am and I accept it and embrace
266. 10:30you know the only thing I I say that I
267. 10:31can't do is clap um but that's kind of
268. 10:34my own little joke which maybe isn't
269. 10:36that funny apparently it it is to me
270. 10:39it's very important to me no I I I have
271. 10:42a number of things that I have to work
272. 10:44more at that I have to use more patience
273. 10:46with that I I have equipment that helps
274. 10:49me with various activities I mountain
275. 10:51bike with this holding on to The
276. 10:52Handlebar I use it for kayaking it fits
277. 10:55around the shaft of a kayak it it also
278. 10:57works very well for holding a ski pole
279. 10:59in a locked position there U it this is
280. 11:03one of eight different Prosthetics I
281. 11:05have so equipment helps me along as well
282. 11:07as you it could you could add a spoon to
283. 11:08that you could add all kinds of it could
284. 11:10be a Swiss Army hand almost you could
285. 11:12have it's a utility Bel yeah yeah it is
286. 11:14it's actually really helpful the only
287. 11:16thing I don't have is the beer coozie
288. 11:18[Laughter]
289. 11:20attachments to keep it cold in there too
290. 11:22well actually I'll just adapt that for
291. 11:24you I can work it out for you all right
292. 11:26we are going to we're going to climb
293. 11:27later on together which you we're doing
294. 11:29today and you said you slipped so I'm
295. 11:31hoping because we we're racing we're
296. 11:33racing to the top yeah and and I don't
297. 11:35know buzzers and everything there's
298. 11:36buzzers and everything and I don't know
299. 11:37what we're doing but uh we're going to
300. 11:39do it together I I simply adore you and
301. 11:42I and I admire you and you are my hero I
302. 11:44appreciate that if I could say one
303. 11:46additional thing it is that I want
304. 11:47people to know from this story that
305. 11:49nothing in their lives is impossible
306. 11:51that they have the courage and the faith
307. 11:53and the perseverance to do what to do
308. 11:55what they think they can't do and to
309. 11:57lift those metaphorical Boulders in
310. 11:58their Liv Liv off of them it it's
311. 12:01something that has convinced me that I
312. 12:03can do it and I hope that people can see
313. 12:05that for themselves in their lives and
314. 12:07do greater things for themselves
315. 12:10too
316. 12:16do you can read the Russ of Aaron's
317. 12:19incredible story in his book between a
318. 12:21rock and a hard place and it's
319. 12:22beautifully written my mother says um I
320. 12:25she took it from me as soon as I got it
321. 12:27it's currently in bookstores everywhere
322. 12:28it's on the New York Times bestsellers
323. 12:30list it's an amazing book everybody in
324. 12:32the audience is getting a copy we'll be
325. 12:34right back with Tyra Banks right after
326. 12:36this