30 Facts About Aron Ralston

Aron Lee Ralston was born on October 27,1975 and is an American mountaineer, mechanical engineer, and motivational speaker, known for surviving a canyoneering accident by cutting off part of his own right arm.

Aron Ralston was born on October 27,1975, in Marion, Ohio.

Aron Ralston received his college degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, finishing with degrees in mechanical engineering and French, with a minor in piano.

Aron Ralston worked as a rafting guide during the summer.

Aron Ralston worked as a mechanical engineer with Intel in Chandler, Tacoma and Albuquerque for five years, but found himself burned out by working in a large corporation.

Aron Ralston moved to Aspen, Colorado in order to pursue a life of climbing mountains.

Aron Ralston had not informed anyone of his hiking plans, nor did he have any way to call for help.

Aron Ralston carved his name, date of birth and presumed date of death into the sandstone canyon wall, and videotaped his last goodbyes to his family.

Aron Ralston did not expect to survive the night, but as he attempted to stay warm he began hallucinating and had a vision of himself playing with a future child while missing part of his right arm.

Aron Ralston credited this as giving him the belief that he would live.

Aron Ralston then had an epiphany that he could break his radius and ulna bones using torque against his trapped arm.

Aron Ralston did so, then amputated his forearm with his multi-tool, using the dull 2-inch knife and pliers for the tougher tendons.

Aron Ralston was 8 miles from his vehicle, and had no phone.

Rescuers searching for Aron Ralston, alerted by his family that he was missing, had narrowed the search down to Canyonlands and he was picked up by a helicopter in a wide area of the canyon.

Aron Ralston was rescued approximately four hours after amputating his arm.

Aron Ralston later said that if he had amputated his arm earlier, he would have bled to death before being found, while if he had not done it he would have been found dead in the slot canyon days later.

Aron Ralston's severed hand and forearm were retrieved from under the boulder by park authorities.

Aron Ralston's arm was then cremated and the ashes given to Ralston.

Aron Ralston returned to the accident scene with Tom Brokaw and a camera crew six months later, on his 28th birthday, to film a Dateline NBC special about the accident in which he scattered the ashes of his arm there, where he said they belong.

On July 21,2003, Aron Ralston appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, and his story was featured by GQ "Men of the Year" and Vanity Fair "People of 2003".

Aron Ralston documented his experience in an autobiographical book titled Between a Rock and a Hard Place, published by Atria Books in September 2004.

Later that month, Aron Ralston's story was featured on a two-hour edition of Dateline NBC called "Desperate Days in Blue John Canyon".

Aron Ralston has appeared twice on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

In 2006, Aron Ralston was featured as a panelist in Miller Lite's "Man Laws" ad campaign.

Aron Ralston later noted that surviving being trapped in the canyon had given him a sense of invincibility, at a time that it should have humbled him.

Aron Ralston lost friends to suicide, and became depressed after his girlfriend broke up with him in 2006.

Aron Ralston has since tried to shift his focus away from adventure-seeking for esteem purposes.

In 2011, Aron Ralston was a contestant on the US television show Minute To Win It, where he won $125,000 for Wilderness Workshop, made a cameo on The Simpsons in "Treehouse of Horror XXII", took part in the reality show Alone in the Wild, where he had to 'survive' in the wild with a video camera and a bag of supplies, and delivered the commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon University for the graduating class of 2011.

Aron Ralston has appeared on the Comedy Central show Tosh.

Charges against Aron Ralston were dropped shortly after, and charges against Shannon were dropped after Aron Ralston did not show up to a court hearing.