Amputation hasn't slowed Ralston

By the time Aron Ralston started the grueling process of cutting off his lower right arm, he'd already decided he was probably going to die in Canyonlands National Park.

He was in a remote place, stuck beneath an unyielding rock. No one knew where he was or where to look for him.

He'd already grieved for his loss and tried to reconcile himself to his fate.

So when the answer to the riddle of what he could do came into his mind, he seized upon it.

"I thought I was going to die. Now I had an opportunity to take control," Ralston said in a phone interview with media Wednesday. Ralston is coming to speak Nov. 6 at a Critical Care Conference at the McKay Special Events Center at Utah Valley State College. He'll meet those who helped him survive and talk about the role the mind can play in pain management.

"As far as the pain, the person undergoing the pain can do as much with their own mind as with anything," he said.

Was he able to self amputate because it didn't hurt? Oh, it hurt.

"There's been a lot of speculation about whether it hurt or not. I was extremely distracted by the euphoria so I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I didn't whimper," he said. "But I definitely felt every bit of it."

Ralston spent six days in April pinned by an 800-pound boulder that inexplicably shifted as he tried to climb past it. His hand was crushed and pinned. (Those who went back to retrieve the detached limb had to use a winch and a mechanical jack to lift the boulder.)

After he hacked off the arm with a dull blade, he rappelled 60 feet down a cliff and walked six miles before he found help. He came within a half-liter of dying from blood loss.

He believes his life was preserved for good reasons.

"There was a greater spiritual energy around me. I felt my family and my friends close to me. Sometimes they would come and visit me and take me on walks through the canyon wall. It felt very good and very uplifting. It gave me good support," Ralston said.

In retrospect, Ralston has gained a new sense of value for friends and family. He's very aware of the opportunities that have come his way because of his ordeal. He's keenly aware that he's being looked at as a role model and inspiration.

"In some ways, it's probably one of the best things that's happened to me," he said. "That six days, I would not trade that most difficult and trying time. It's been the most illuminating time."