What If...

What if... A coined term used frequently in your life....I suppose. Anyway with me it is. Ever catch yourself saying, "What if I won the lottery" or something to that degree. After reading Aron Ralston's book I catch myself saying what if that happened to me.

To recap who Aron Ralston is... Aron is a climber/mountaineer/canyoneer from Aspen, Colorado. In 2003, while hiking by himself in the wilderness of Utah, he ended up in a canyon with his right hand caught between the canyon wall and a 800lb. boulder. Aron spent 6 days in the with his hand and part of his forearm smashed and unable to get help. The last days in the canyon, he resorted to drinking his own urine to stay hydrated, contemplating his death, video taping his last will and testament, and eventually amputating his right arm to get free.

I work in the field of Emergency Medicine. In the Emergency Room as my main job and as an Emergency Medical Technician in the town I live in. In my job at the hospital, I have seen many things including massive trauma to body parts. I don't think about it at the time and understand the injuries inflicted to patient must..... well suck. I have been taught to stay calm in the instance when family members of accident victims are hysterical. But in Aron's case... I'm pretty sure I would have freaked out on a major scale. I can see other peoples trauma and not feel sick to my stomach or disgusted. Hell, I can watch "Trauma - Life in the E.R." and eat a sandwich. But if it were my arm and I'd have to contemplate severing it... I don't know. A tough call. What would you do?

While reading this book, the whole thing was about saving his water supply which he only had a liter Nalgene bottle and a CamelBak that leaked out his main 3 liter supply. Reading this book made me thirsty as hell. Anyways, a very interesting book and I recommend everybody read it.

Ta ta fer now...
Eric