Adventurer Aron Ralston talks about challenges at Emerson Retail Industry Day
PHILADELPHIA — The 7th Annual Emerson Group Retail Industry Day kicked off with a moving and inspirational presentation by adventurer and wilderness advocate Aron Ralston, who not only shared his story of having to amputate his arm in order to free himself from a dislodged boulder while hiking in Utah’s remote canyon country, but also revealed what he gained from that fateful journey.
“Yes, when I walked out of that canyon 11 years ago, I left something behind, but I didn’t lose anything. The way I see this is that I only gained from what I went through, when I became trapped and had to amputate my arm and the subsequent recovery,” Ralston told attendees.
It was April 2003, when Ralston went for a hike in Utah’s Blue John Canyon. Seven miles into his journey — and roughly 70 miles from civilization — he accidentally dislodged a boulder that crushed and pinned his right hand. He would spend the next six days alone.
After six days of entrapment, a failed attempt to chip away at the boulder with a dull, cheap multi-tool knife and, with a depleted water supply, now forced to drink his own urine, Ralston freed himself by amputating his arm with that same dull knife. Bleeding, dehydrated and nearly 30 pounds lighter, Ralston then hiked mile after mile to a miraculous rescue.
“It might strike you as being one of the most horrific or potentially horrific experiences of your life, and yet it was not horrific for me at all. In fact, it was actually one of the most beautiful experiences of my life,” Ralston said. “Our boulders come with choices. You all have your boulders.”
Since his amputation, Ralston has written the best-selling book, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place," which became the basis of the movie “127 Hours,” directed by Danny Boyle and starring James Franco. The movie was nominated for six Oscars.
With new prosthetic arms that he designed, Ralston even returned to his outdoor passions. He finished climbing Colorado’s 59 “Fourteeners,” in winter, solo; he skied from the summit of Denali, North America’s highest mountain; and, he’s led a rafting expedition through the Grand Canyon.
“The [boulders] could be the most horrific experience of your life. They could also be the most beautiful experience in your life. The boulders come with gifts,” Ralston said.
“I came to understand that I was a lot more capable than what I would have imagined, and that’s usually the case. We are all capable of a lot more than what we imagine,” said Ralston. “We never really reach out potential either without the boulders.”