He Had To Cut Off His Own Arm or Die | Aron Ralston | Goalcast — Transcript

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1. 0:00aaron ralston made world headlines after
2. 0:02becoming trapped in a canyon
3. 0:04you probably thought it was over it's a
4. 0:07matter of just
5. 0:08cutting the skin it became a journey
6. 0:10that would take ralston from panic
7. 0:12i can't crack it to despair i was gonna
8. 0:15die
9. 0:15finally to hope you did have a vision
10. 0:18make an attempt to
11. 0:19get it to them a journey in which he
12. 0:21would be forced to do something
13. 0:23the rest of us find almost impossible to
14. 0:25imagine
15. 0:27i tried cutting my arm off he amputated
16. 0:30his
17. 0:30own arm with a pocket knife after
18. 0:32becoming trapped under a boulder i had
19. 0:34very very little water
20. 0:36i would never do something like that
21. 0:38this can happen
22. 0:39to anyone i felt the worst pain that i
23. 0:42will ever experience the odds of
24. 0:43something
25. 0:44like this happening have to be
26. 0:46incalculable
27. 0:47my son has been reported listening since
28. 0:49last thursday night
29. 0:51erin what happened on april 26th
30. 0:54what made you do the unthinkable it was
31. 0:57approximately 2 45 pm
32. 1:00when he encountered this boulder
33. 1:01blocking his path and
34. 1:03i dislodged a boulder that i pulled it
35. 1:06down as i was descending
36. 1:08this drop off the boulder fell i was
37. 1:11hanging from the boulder
38. 1:12where the last good handholds were i was
39. 1:14now underneath it and as i
40. 1:16put my hands up to try to block it from
41. 1:19crashing into my skull
42. 1:21that my hands one got smashed and that's
43. 1:25the boulder ricocheted
44. 1:26my right hand became trapped as i went
45. 1:29out there i
46. 1:30made a choice not only to be by myself
47. 1:32but
48. 1:34i didn't tell anyone where i was going
49. 1:37my name is aaron ralston
50. 1:40my parents are donald and larry ralston
51. 1:42of englewood colorado
52. 1:44whoever finds this please make an
53. 1:47attempt to
54. 1:48get it to them
55. 1:51be sure but i would appreciate it
56. 2:01hey aaron here leave a message
57. 2:08aaron it's mom i was hoping to catch you
58. 2:13are you there hello
59. 2:18call me okay lots of love
60. 2:23the only word of my destination i gave
61. 2:25was utah
62. 2:27my mom didn't want to let me go and i
63. 2:29couldn't blame her
64. 2:30he didn't want mom to know obviously i
65. 2:32would have been
66. 2:34shaken in my shoes and probably shaking
67. 2:35him my son has been reported listening
68. 2:38since last
69. 2:39thursday night my mom's world was caving
70. 2:41in around her
71. 2:45and for the next three hours held a
72. 2:46solitary vigil praying to me hold on
73. 2:50we're coming aaron we're coming just
74. 2:53hold
75. 2:54on i just exhausted myself trying to
76. 2:57make the boulder move
77. 2:58and i wasn't able to do that at that
78. 3:01moment then i realized i was
79. 3:03i was in a great deal of trouble god i'm
80. 3:06really screwed
81. 3:08i'm going to shrivel up right here
82. 3:12over the course of the next few days he
83. 3:14was now convinced his only chance to
84. 3:16live would require him to do something
85. 3:18unimaginable over the time that i was
86. 3:20trapped of course i tried to get free
87. 3:21and
88. 3:22yet all of the attempts that i made
89. 3:24failed
90. 3:25by the fourth night the fifth night now
91. 3:28i know
92. 3:28i'm i'm not gonna make it and and yet
93. 3:30then in the middle of that that night
94. 3:32what was the last night
95. 3:33i had a vision an out-of-body experience
96. 3:36where i saw myself interacting in a
97. 3:38living room
98. 3:38with a little boy it was about three
99. 3:40four years old blonde hair
100. 3:42blue eyes holding him up on my hip and
101. 3:45and
102. 3:45the eye contact that i had with them
103. 3:47told me that this was my future son
104. 3:49uh and if i was to have a future son
105. 3:51then that meant i was gonna have a
106. 3:52future i was gonna get out of this place
107. 3:54a desire bubbles up mom
108. 3:58i say delicate and weak
109. 4:02creating a subconscious reassurance that
110. 4:04somehow i will survive this entrapment
111. 4:08then with a shock the vision blinks out
112. 4:11i'm back in the canyon a few hours later
113. 4:14the sun came up yet again on my sixth
114. 4:17day in the canyon
115. 4:18but this time with this renewed hope
116. 4:21that i would get out of there
117. 4:22it came to me this this epiphany that i
118. 4:24could break
119. 4:25that i could break the bones because my
120. 4:27arm was caught so tightly
121. 4:29that i could torque myself and so i
122. 4:31slammed
123. 4:32my body against the opposite wall i
124. 4:35grabbed the back side of the boulder
125. 4:37and even got my feet up to where i was i
126. 4:39was standing halfway up the wall
127. 4:42and grabbing the backside the rock
128. 4:46pumping my body over it until finally
129. 4:48that bottom bone
130. 4:50snapped then boom and i wasn't even
131. 4:53attached anymore and i fell down like
132. 4:55this and i
133. 4:57i was free
134. 5:03you were reborn to be given the chance
135. 5:06to get out of here
136. 5:08uh looking down canyon i knew i had
137. 5:12i had a hell of a trip left at least i
138. 5:15i i was not going to die
139. 5:19right here i stand up
140. 5:22i'm as ready as i'll ever be i wish i
141. 5:24could rest but i'm slowly bleeding out
142. 5:27and i have three maybe four hours to go
143. 5:29from here
144. 5:30marching into the wide open sunny sandy
145. 5:32canyon bottom
146. 5:33i start my seven mile trek it's only
147. 5:36going to get hotter
148. 5:37and i'm only going to get weaker the
149. 5:40pain tempts me to sit and regain
150. 5:42strength
151. 5:42that i know i have to press on
152. 5:46at mile 6 i make a left turn heading
153. 5:48toward a colossal alcove that must be
154. 5:50100 yards wide and at least that tall
155. 5:54there 70 yards ahead of me are three
156. 5:57hikers
157. 5:58i have to signal them before they get
158. 6:00too far off i try to shout but my voice
159. 6:02catches in my throat
160. 6:04finally i manage a feeble help
161. 6:08help the group stops and turns back to
162. 6:12face me
163. 6:13i keep walking and shout again help
164. 6:17i need help all three of them start
165. 6:20running toward me
166. 6:21and i feel as though i'm about to cry
167. 6:24i'm not alone
168. 6:25anymore a helicopter came out of the sky
169. 6:29that had been searching for me and
170. 6:31plucked me out of the canyon
171. 6:32and off we fly to the hospital
172. 6:35when i opened my eyes all i could think
173. 6:38about all i could imagine
174. 6:39was seeing my family again this face of
175. 6:42the future
176. 6:43sun of my life that that i was looking
177. 6:48at at my little boy only four hours
178. 6:51since i was rescued
179. 6:53my mom is at my bedside she bends down
180. 6:56and kisses my forehead
181. 6:59mom i say the word releases an internal
182. 7:03torrent of love that courses through me
183. 7:06but i lift my left hand and she takes it
184. 7:09in both of hers
185. 7:11her hands are cool soft and trembling
186. 7:14ever so slightly
187. 7:16at close range i can see how much worry
188. 7:18i've caused my mom
189. 7:19and though i can barely speak i scrape
190. 7:22out
191. 7:23mom i'm sorry i scared you
192. 7:26i love you she shakes her head and
193. 7:30before either of us knows it we are
194. 7:31crying together
195. 7:35i've learned a profound lesson in this
196. 7:37when i was on the brink of death
197. 7:39i didn't eulogize myself via my life's
198. 7:42accomplishments
199. 7:44rather i turn to my loved ones to say
200. 7:46thank you
201. 7:48life is not just about what you do or
202. 7:51what you've achieved
203. 7:53it is about who you are how you relate
204. 7:56with others
205. 7:58how you love my parents my mom my dad
206. 8:02to be able to say to them that i i was
207. 8:05sorry
208. 8:05for for what i'd put them through that i
209. 8:08was sorry that i had been
210. 8:10in so many ways more self-centered than
211. 8:12what i i would like to have been in life
212. 8:14that i hadn't told them that i love them
213. 8:16as much as
214. 8:17that i would have liked to have
215. 8:18expressed all the like regrets that
216. 8:20that i then had the chance to get back
217. 8:22to them and
218. 8:23not only say those things to implement
219. 8:26the lessons in my life the gift of it is
220. 8:29that it it draws me out of my my daily
221. 8:32experience into a place of appreciation
222. 8:34and gratitude now that is my son
223. 8:36he saved my life that night for him to
224. 8:38be in that spot where i met him
225. 8:4010 years ago to bring him there and and
226. 8:43to have that interaction again
227. 8:44this is the gratitude so it's so amazing
228. 8:47to be alive
229. 8:48this was one of the greatest things
230. 8:49that's ever happened for me in my life
231. 8:51that i didn't lose anything when i cut
232. 8:54my arm off i
233. 8:55gained my entire life back as well as
234. 8:57the lessons and
235. 8:58and the gifts that came along and yet
236. 9:00what persists beyond that
237. 9:02is it's not the will to live it's the
238. 9:03will to love
239. 9:24you