wfn.org | UMNS# 04507-After amputating arm, Ralston finds recovery tough

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

After amputating arm, Ralston finds recovery tough mountain to climb 

Oct. 28, 2004	 News media contact:   Matt  Carlisle * (615) 742-5470* 
Nashville {04507}

NOTE: A photograph is available at www.umc.org.

A UMC.org Feature
By Marta W. Aldrich*

While he routinely conquered Colorado's highest peaks solo in winter and
navigated the deep gorges and sudden drop-offs of Utah's burnt and twisted
canyons, Aron Ralston floundered under the surgeries, shots and daily drip,
drip, drip of intravenous antibiotics.

In a remarkable display of fortitude and survival instinct, Ralston saved his
life by severing his own right arm trapped under a boulder during a solo
hiking trip in April 2003. But the subsequent medical challenges proved in
many ways more complex and daunting than the extreme outdoorsman's
straightforward brush with death while trapped for days in Utah's remote
Bluejohn Canyon.

"How was it that I had cut off my arm without so much as a whimper, and yet
now all I could do was whine?" Ralston writes in a new book. "... I found
myself easily fed up by the effort involved with my new life, in which rest,
recovery and rehab had replaced skiing, mountaineering and concerts."

Ralston, who grew up attending Hope United Methodist Church in Greenwood
Village, Colo., touches on his medical struggles and adapting to his new
single-handed lifestyle in his book Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Atria
Books, 2004).

In an interview with UMC.org, he describes the same physical and emotional
manifestations often encountered by people going through personal loss,
trauma and tragedy. Among them: sleeplessness, feelings of a loss of control
and depression.

The low point came weeks after his amputation, when he developed a
life-threatening bone infection caused by the dirty pocketknife he'd used to
free himself from the 800-pound boulder that had shifted and landed on his
arm. "I thought, 'Did I go through everything I went through in Bluejohn
Canyon only to come home and die of a bone infection?'" Ralston says.

The infection meant hooking up to an antibiotic drip bag for half an hour
once every eight hours for six weeks. "It was very confining for Aron," his
mother, Donna Ralston, tells UMC.org. "There were setbacks and struggles and
depression, things not moving along as quickly as he had hoped."

Being medicated often kept Ralston in a sedated stupor, nodding off
frequently as his family shuttled him from one medical appointment to
another. It was anything but the independent and soak-it-all-in lifestyle the
27-year-old had been accustomed to while hiking, climbing, canyoneering,
biking and rafting. "I wanted to get my life back, but that meant I had to
learn how to cope with my frustrations and turn them into motivation for
action," Ralston writes.

To climb back into the life he knew, Ralston depended on and talked
frequently with family, friends and pastors, attended a support group for
amputees, set limits when necessary, listened to music, recorded his thoughts
and feelings, and set modest goals and plans to build on, one at a time.

Once weaned off the potent drugs, he was able to begin rehabilitation and saw
enough daily improvement in his skills and independence to regain a sense of
normalcy. He learned to tie his shoelaces and put on a watch one-handed.
Having previously been right-handed, he practiced writing with his left hand
and resumed activities like driving his truck, going for runs or traveling to
concerts with friends. He eventually returned to the outdoor adventures he
loves, even revisiting the very spot in Bluejohn Canyon where he was pinned
and prepared to die.

Amazingly, Ralston says, he never mourned the loss of his hand once he
decided cutting it off was the only way to survive. "He grieved for his arm
in the canyon while he was trapped," says his mother. "But the arm was
basically dead six hours after he was entrapped. It held him captive for six
days. Once he was free, it was like, 'Good riddance. I'm outta here.'"

With his newfound celebrity, Ralston travels the world promoting his book,
giving speeches and meeting new fans at book signings. Several have told
Ralston his inspirational story kept them from committing suicide.

Ralston says he does not regret what happened to him in Bluejohn Canyon. He
believes the experience launched him on a spiritual journey that has given
him a new purpose in demonstrating his exhilaration for life and the
importance of letting go of the past. He doesn't blame God for the loss of
his hand, but rather he credits divine intervention for giving him the
inspiration to set himself free.

"I was part of a miracle that has touched a great number of people in the
world," Ralston says, "and I wouldn't trade that for anything, not even to
have my hand back."

*Aldrich is a journalist based in Franklin, Tenn. This feature was developed
by UMC.org, the official online ministry of the United Methodist Church.

News media contact: Matt Carlisle, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5153 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service