On April 26, 2003, American climber Aron Ralston set out alone to descend Bluejohn Canyon in southeastern Utah.
He packed food for a few days and a cheap pocket knife.
Then a boulder broke free and pinned his right wrist against the canyon wall.
What did he do?
His brain told him to pull it out at once. He yanked three times.
The arm did not move.
He stayed trapped for 127 hours.
The food lasted only a few days. When it ran out, he drank his own urine.
Sure he was going to die, he filmed goodbye messages for the people he loved.
Then he woke up with a different plan.
He broke the bones in his own arm. He cut the arm off with a dull two-inch knife.
The cutting took one hour.
He pushed through the rest of the canyon, rappelled a 65-foot (20-meter) drop, and hiked 7 miles (11 kilometers).
Tourists found him.
The knife was cheap and dull.
It was never made for an amputation.
Nobody came and pulled him out.
He walked out alone, because he left his arm in the canyon.
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