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July 2nd, 2005
11:28 am - Wow
I watched the Tom Brokaw special on Aron Ralston last night. All I have to say is... wow. I wish this guy had taken an anatomy class though. But I will save my reasoning for later on in the journal entry.
The symbolism within his true life journey is astounding. It was always amazing, knowing he cut off his arm to save his life, but the symbology within his experience was something new to me.
He was in that cave, with nothing but himself, his tools, and a small window to the outside world. Every morning, like clockwork a raven would fly by at 8:15 in the morning. Whether it was an actual raven, or a figment of his imagination (considering the use of the raven as a death symbol, it is plausible his mind created it). What was astounding was the morning of his 6th day... the raven did not come.
His tapes to his family were moving. He didn't allow the video to show; only the audio, and I cannot blame him. It would be incredibly traumatic for friends and family. Though, if he was one of the people I care deeply about, I would have forced myself to watch the reel. Perhaps I would have had to wait a number of months before doing so, to prepare myself, but I know I would have want to be able to understand as much as possible what happened to my loved one what happened. I cannot imagine being the family member or friend of someone who this happened to, much less being that person.
He literally thought he was going to die. No, he knew he was going to die. The tapes made that abundantly clear. Having only two burritos to eat, a bottle of water, for six days, it would be expected that he could not survive. But something inside him didn't allow him to give up. Only after he had nothing left, did he try the worst option, cutting off his arm. When he made the decision to cut off his arm, it probably had something to do with the fact that when he accidentally hit his thumb with the blade of his pocketknife (again trying to cut through the boulder), he heard a rush of air come out. His hand was decomposing while still attached to his body.
In order to cut off his arm, he had to break the radius and ulna. His blade, worn down from use trying to chip the boulder, would not cut through the bone. I was yelling in my head to him, if only he had taken an anatomy class, he would have known to cut through the joint. Though, I have to selfishly and awfully admit, that part of me is proud that I know so much about human anatomy, and that it is incredibly patronizing that I would have wished he had taken an anatomy class. Instead, he fell back on his engineering training, and realized that using torque, he could snap the bones, leaning as far as he could from the boulder in order to do so. Then he cut the tissues, and the worst part, his nerve off.
Then he was free. But just free from the boulder, not his potential death. He had to make his way out of the canyon, but not the way he had come from.
--I have to get ready for work, I will finish the rest later, but let me say, he is more badass than "just" cutting off his arm--
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shaydlip's journal
