Aron Ralston Part 4 of 6 Desperate Days in Blue John Canyo — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00it was a crushing realization now Erin's
2. 0:04only hope that someone would realize he
3. 0:07was missing and by some miracle figure
4. 0:09out where he wasn't find him it was now
5. 0:129:00 a.m. Tuesday morning and back in
6. 0:15Aspen Colorado Aron Ralston was
7. 0:17officially late for work
8. 0:19down deep my stomach I knew something
9. 0:22was seriously wrong Bryan after manager
10. 0:24of the Ute mountaineering store
11. 0:26immediately feared that Aron might be in
12. 0:28trouble
13. 0:28but knowing what a skilled outdoorsman
14. 0:30walleston was he decided to give him a
15. 0:33day before sounding the alarm someone of
16. 0:36his physical abilities if they're 50
17. 0:38miles in the middle of nowhere and break
18. 0:40their leg they're gonna he's probably
19. 0:41able to crawl out in a day or do
20. 0:44whatever it is that he needs to do
21. 0:47but nothing was further from the truth
22. 0:50back in Blue John Canyon Wolfson had
23. 0:53already run out of water now at 4:00
24. 0:55p.m. he took his last bite of food from
25. 0:59that point all I had was two bottles of
26. 1:04of urine it certainly wasn't a pleasant
27. 1:07part of the experience but it it helped
28. 1:10me survive
29. 1:12Ralston knew that he was playing a
30. 1:15waiting game he wondered what would kill
31. 1:17him first
32. 1:18dehydration hypothermia or even the
33. 1:22infection that was surely setting in in
34. 1:23his arm would he be able to stave off
35. 1:26death until he was rescued
36. 1:28Ralston calculated that even if he was
37. 1:31reported missing it would be days before
38. 1:33rescuers started to look for him and
39. 1:36days more before they found him my
40. 1:40confidence in me lasting that long was
41. 1:41very low on Sunday I said that I'd be
42. 1:44surprised if I made it to Tuesday
43. 1:45morning on Tuesday morning I said I'd be
44. 1:47surprised if I made it to Wednesday at
45. 1:49noon and the critical error that he'd
46. 1:51made and not telling anyone where he was
47. 1:53headed that weekend continued to haunt
48. 1:55him that was a big shortcoming here for
49. 1:58it was possibly the largest most
50. 2:01significant mistake that I've that I've
51. 2:03made first rule that I'll let people
52. 2:06know where you're going when you're
53. 2:07going into the wilderness so if
54. 2:08something happens they'll know where to
55. 2:10look precisely it was an impromptu
56. 2:13decision about where I was headed and
57. 2:16what I was going to do later Ralston
58. 2:18would also face criticism for not having
59. 2:20a cell phone with him but he says given
60. 2:22his location literally underground
61. 2:24getting a cell phone signal would have
62. 2:27been impossible I would challenge any of
63. 2:30the people who would say that that
64. 2:31technology could have made a difference
65. 2:32in my situation to take it there and and
66. 2:35to make it work because it wouldn't
67. 2:37as the days passed Ralston questioned if
68. 2:40anything could save him his thoughts
69. 2:42often turned dark his mind playing out
70. 2:44other horrific scenarios one of the
71. 2:47greatest dangers for Canyon ears a flash
72. 2:49flood even a moderate rainfall could
73. 2:52trigger a torrent of water that would
74. 2:54send rocks trees and debris rushing
75. 2:56through the canyon until most wishing
76. 2:59for it to come
77. 3:01[Music]
78. 3:06and Ralston had an even darker thought
79. 3:10why wait for nature why not just finish
80. 3:14the job himself
81. 3:20[Music]
82. 3:38I wish to go knowing it certainly
83. 3:41happened as he ready to himself for his
84. 3:45fourth night in the canyon urn Ralston
85. 3:47prayed that he'd still be alive when the
86. 3:50Sun rose who am i foolish definitely
87. 3:54from a psychological perspective as far
88. 3:56as just the lack of light and what it
89. 3:59does to our psyche the nights that would
90. 4:00get any shorter no they they got longer
91. 4:05the way that they felt they got colder
92. 4:07my body just had a diminished ability to
93. 4:10respond to the cold and the resources
94. 4:14this might as my calorie reserves were
95. 4:16being used up his body was breaking down
96. 4:23unbelievably he'd gone some ninety hours
97. 4:25without sleep and only a few bites of
98. 4:28food and now a full day without water he
99. 4:32couldn't survive many more Aron Ralston
100. 4:35was slowly dying and he knew it
101. 4:43without saying I love you to come around
102. 4:47we're olaphis back in my oh god bless
103. 4:50you all
104. 4:52[Music]
105. 4:58as the raven made its daily morning pass
106. 5:01over Blue John Canyon in Aspen the ute
107. 5:04mountain airy store opened for business
108. 5:05and for the second day in a row Aron
109. 5:08Ralston didn't show up for work I pretty
110. 5:10much made up my mind that if I didn't
111. 5:12hear from Erin by 9 o'clock on Wednesday
112. 5:15morning that something was seriously
113. 5:17wrong as 9:00 a.m. came and went
114. 5:21Ryan after his fears were confirmed and
115. 5:24I was like all right he's not here I'm
116. 5:25going to go and try to figure out where
117. 5:27he is and start contacting people you
118. 5:29talked to Erin's roommates who are now
119. 5:31also concerned but they had no
120. 5:33information either Brian searched his
121. 5:36locker at the store looking for names
122. 5:38numbers anyone he could contact who
123. 5:40might know where Erin was he sent out
124. 5:43emails to everyone he could think of
125. 5:44asking for any information when Aaron
126. 5:47was last seen and he called Erin's
127. 5:49parents in Denver
128. 5:51Donna Ralston was working in her home
129. 5:53office I answered the home phone line
130. 5:57and Brian told me who it was and asked
131. 6:01me if I knew about Aaron or where he was
132. 6:03and I said no I have no idea isn't yet
133. 6:06work and he said no he's overdue didn't
134. 6:11show up yesterday and didn't show up
135. 6:14this morning and I said Brian you
136. 6:17understand what that means and he said
137. 6:18yeah I fear I said I think I know as
138. 6:22well as well as you do it's very serious
139. 6:25that means he's in deep trouble
140. 6:27something is really really wrong
141. 6:29Donna immediately took charge laying out
142. 6:32a plan of action
143. 6:33Brian would place a missing-persons
144. 6:35report with the Aspen police she'd
145. 6:37worked the telephones Aaron's father
146. 6:39Larry a tour guide was in New York
147. 6:41leading a group and for the moment he
148. 6:43was unreachable Donna recruited a friend
149. 6:46to help we decided that if I could break
150. 6:48into his computer and get to his email
151. 6:51address book that there might be a clue
152. 6:53that he had told somebody or written an
153. 6:56email to someone telling where he was
154. 6:58going or what his plans for the weekend
155. 7:00were she tried to hack into his email
156. 7:02account for hours finally realizing she
157. 7:05knew enough personal information about
158. 7:06Aaron to answer the security questions
159. 7:09required to reset his password she was
160. 7:11in she used his online address book to
161. 7:15send out another wave of emails asking
162. 7:16for help by that afternoon she and Brian
163. 7:20learned the last time Aaron had been
164. 7:21spotted was the day that he left Aspen
165. 7:23just outside of town where he had
166. 7:25climbed Mount Sopris with a friend that
167. 7:28friend left him along the road when he
168. 7:31was taking pictures and you know said
169. 7:33goodbye and he left and that was the
170. 7:36last time Aaron had been seen
171. 7:39it was a clue but a chilling one that
172. 7:43had been six days ago were they already
173. 7:46too late
174. 7:47suggestions and tips were now pouring in
175. 7:50from concerned friends called the parks
176. 7:52department called the Bureau of Land
177. 7:54Management called the Sheriff's
178. 7:56Department's called the rescue squads
179. 8:07every time I called somebody I would ask
180. 8:10who else can I call where else can I get
181. 8:12information who else can I get help from
182. 8:14and so the day went on progressively
183. 8:17with no responses no indication of where
184. 8:20he might have gone which direction he
185. 8:22went what he was doing or what or what
186. 8:24might have happened it was a very long
187. 8:27and trying day Donna had called
188. 8:34authorities throughout Colorado and Utah
189. 8:36but there was little that they could do
190. 8:38because they had no idea where Aaron had
191. 8:40gone or how long he'd actually been
192. 8:43missing why late afternoon Donna was
193. 8:45finally able to speak to her husband
194. 8:47Larry in New York did you feel great
195. 8:50alarm when you first heard that he was
196. 8:51missing very concerned the initial
197. 8:53reaction of other people I think is that
198. 8:55perhaps he was lost and that never
199. 8:59crossed our mind that he was lost there
200. 9:02was something keeping him from coming
201. 9:03back you know he is too experienced to
202. 9:05be lost he is not lost he's hurt
203. 9:08something's wrong finally a break a
204. 9:12friend emailed Wolfson's manager that
205. 9:15Aaron had mentioned wanting to visit
206. 9:16some canyons in Utah
207. 9:18Donna stepped up their calls to
208. 9:20authorities in that area they sent
209. 9:22patrols out to check trail heads and to
210. 9:26check hospitals and to
211. 9:28look for broken-down vehicle along the
212. 9:30roadside and whatever by eight nine
213. 9:35o'clock that evening still we we knew
214. 9:38nothing were you talking to Aaron were
215. 9:40you saying where are you wearing yeah
216. 9:42out loud sometimes you know why did you
217. 9:46do this why weren't you more careful
218. 9:48where are you Aaron you know why are you
219. 9:51doing this to us back in Blue John
220. 9:54Canyon Aaron was slowly losing ground in
221. 9:57his flight - hold on
222. 9:58think about your family let's definitely
223. 10:01think about my sister's wedding that was
224. 10:03coming up - at the end of August that I
225. 10:05was going to miss and not only miss but
226. 10:07put a whole somber overtone to it that
227. 10:11there would probably be a funerals
228. 10:13before you know my sister got me her and
229. 10:16I I felt bad for like what I was doing
230. 10:19emotionally to my parents it was hard I
231. 10:21felt guilty about it
232. 10:23his only comfort that he had been able
233. 10:25to tell them all this
234. 10:30take this chance to say that the times
235. 10:33that we've spent together
236. 10:36I've been awesome
237. 10:39hoody
238. 10:41always being here
239. 10:44it was his fifth night in Blue John
240. 10:47Canyon and Ralston knew it would be his
241. 10:50last it was a very dark time for me I
242. 10:53had very little confidence that I was
243. 10:56going to get myself out basically
244. 10:58because I couldn't and you came down to
245. 11:00whether I could cut through my arm or
246. 11:02not and I couldn't do it I didn't have a
247. 11:03knife sharp enough to cut your bones as
248. 11:06night fell on Blue John it was utterly
249. 11:08dark and deadly quiet
250. 11:10Ralston had now been without water for
251. 11:12almost two days he'd lost almost 45
252. 11:16pounds and was near hypothermia he had
253. 11:19many sleep deprived hallucinations many
254. 11:22of them dark but some offered hope I had
255. 11:25the vision of this little three-year-old
256. 11:27boy blond hair and red shirt running
257. 11:29across the floor of the living room into
258. 11:31my arms picking him up and realized it
259. 11:33was my son and that this was a vision
260. 11:35for something in my future but even that
261. 11:39glimpse of what might be was no longer
262. 11:41enough I thought I was gonna die the
263. 11:44conditioned athlete who had entered the
264. 11:45Canyon five days before it was a shadow
265. 11:47of what he had been right Ralston had
266. 11:50faced down death cheating it before but
267. 11:53now his steelwill was beginning to grind
268. 11:56down emotionally the darkest time I
269. 11:58think was that Wednesday night and that
270. 12:00was when there's when I edged on the
271. 12:02wall here when we returned to the canyon
272. 12:04it was that etching on the wall that
273. 12:06caused him to break down
274. 12:08a vivid reminder of the moment when all
275. 12:14hope was lost I'd taken the knife
276. 12:24and I edged into the wall four letters
277. 12:27of my name a ro n right there
278. 12:33just identify who this body was that was
279. 12:36I was here and I asked October 75 above
280. 12:42my name and I hatched April Oh 3 blowing
281. 12:51and I wrote r.i.p
282. 12:58[Music]
283. 13:03walleston had carved his own epitaph his
284. 13:06gravestone blue john's majestic walls he
285. 13:10recorded his last message to his family
286. 13:11asking to be cremated and instructing
287. 13:14them were to spread his ashes he prayed
288. 13:17to God and found peace he was ready to
289. 13:21accept death
290. 13:23again love to everyone
291. 13:26bring love and peace and happiness and
292. 13:28beautiful lives into the world my honor
293. 13:31thank you
294. 13:38Geron Wolfson had not expected to live
295. 13:41to see the sunrise of her Blue John
296. 13:42Canyon on Thursday morning his 6th day
297. 13:46since being trapped he was convinced he
298. 13:48wouldn't make it to day 7 he needed a
299. 13:51miracle I'd prayed about seeking
300. 13:54guidance what I was supposed to do into
301. 13:56finding an option that was going to
302. 13:58actually work to get me out of there
303. 13:59Aaron waited for the Raven to pass
304. 14:01overhead on its daily morning flight it
305. 14:03was the one thing that he could count on
306. 14:05it kind of became my morning ritual to
307. 14:08watch for it and and to see it go was
308. 14:12that morning the Raven that symbol of
309. 14:14death never appeared and Aaron Ralston
310. 14:18prayers were about to be answered back
311. 14:21in Denver Donna Ralston has spent an
312. 14:23anguished sleepless night did you ever
313. 14:26put in words as a mother what it's like
314. 14:29to be going through this ordeal it was
315. 14:31horrible
316. 14:32someone asked me later if I ever had any
317. 14:36doubts that he was alive and no somehow
318. 14:40I knew that if he had an ounce of energy
319. 14:43anywhere in his being that he would get
320. 14:47himself out or that he would free
321. 14:49himself from wherever he was