A mountaineer, father, amputee, and fighter are words that describe Aron Ralston. Ralston was involved in 2003 in an accident involving a boulder trapping his hand. He was stuck inbetween two canyons and his right hand was pinned against the wall of the canyon. He was trapped for six days, more specifically 127 hours, before cutting off his own arm (from the forearm down). His story made headlines all over the country, inspired his book Between a Rock and a Hard Place, and the film 127 Hours which was nominated for six Oscars. This past Thursday Ralston spoke at Marquette and truly electrified the crowd. The event was part of the Speaker Series which is sponsored by Marquette Student Government. The event will be one that I will never forget.
The event started off by showing the trailer of the movie 127 Hours, which James Franco stars as Aron Ralston. Ralston was warmly welcomed from a almost full Varsity Theater crowd. Ralston started off by saying that most people knew him as the guy who cut his own arm off, but what people didn't know was that he was the guy smiling when he cut his arm off. Ralston took the crowd through the day's events leading up to the incident.
He went into details about what he was thinking when his arm got stuck and he didn't hold back anything. He told his story with confidence and emotion. My roommate described the event as "an emotional rollercoaster." Ralston was a fantastic public speaker. He demonstrated what he was doing when he was trying to get free from the bolder and he even managed to intertwine humor into his story. Ralston said, "My medical training up to that point was watching a couple of episodes of ER." He didn't know medically what he was doing, but he did know that medical help was at least eight to ten hours away.
After this whole incident happened, Ralston said that the bolder did really help him decide what was important in life. Ralston believed that once he freed himself from the boulder, that he stepped out of his grave and into his life again. He even went as far as saying 'thank you' to the boulder.
Ralston still continues to climb mountains and even goes white water rafting. He has a son named Leo with his ex-wife. Ralston even helped design his prosthetic arm, which has different attachments, to help him with climbing. He makes sure that he lives every day to the fullest. Ralston closed the event by saying, "We are not just here to enrich our own lives, but to enrich the lives of others." His speech was truly inspiring and one that will resonant for a while.
The event started off by showing the trailer of the movie 127 Hours, which James Franco stars as Aron Ralston. Ralston was warmly welcomed from a almost full Varsity Theater crowd. Ralston started off by saying that most people knew him as the guy who cut his own arm off, but what people didn't know was that he was the guy smiling when he cut his arm off. Ralston took the crowd through the day's events leading up to the incident.
He went into details about what he was thinking when his arm got stuck and he didn't hold back anything. He told his story with confidence and emotion. My roommate described the event as "an emotional rollercoaster." Ralston was a fantastic public speaker. He demonstrated what he was doing when he was trying to get free from the bolder and he even managed to intertwine humor into his story. Ralston said, "My medical training up to that point was watching a couple of episodes of ER." He didn't know medically what he was doing, but he did know that medical help was at least eight to ten hours away.
After this whole incident happened, Ralston said that the bolder did really help him decide what was important in life. Ralston believed that once he freed himself from the boulder, that he stepped out of his grave and into his life again. He even went as far as saying 'thank you' to the boulder.
Ralston still continues to climb mountains and even goes white water rafting. He has a son named Leo with his ex-wife. Ralston even helped design his prosthetic arm, which has different attachments, to help him with climbing. He makes sure that he lives every day to the fullest. Ralston closed the event by saying, "We are not just here to enrich our own lives, but to enrich the lives of others." His speech was truly inspiring and one that will resonant for a while.
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