Will to survive meets will to love

Everyone has boulders to encounter.

That was the overall message that Aron Ralston delivered Tuesday in Memorial Hall.  “We’re all going to encounter adversity. I want to help you embrace your boulders rather than pushing them away,” Ralston began.

In 2003, Ralston was pinned between a boulder and a rock wall for almost a week. In the end, he cut off his own arm to save his life. Since, he has written a book titled “Between a Rock and A Hard Place,” and inspired the movie “127 Hours.”

Both funny and inspiring, Ralston made an amazing speaker. His presentation began with a trailer for the movie “127 hours” starring James Franco. Ralston came out afterwards saying “I’d like to issue an apology. If anyone is disappointed that I don’t look a little more like James Franco, sorry,” setting off the mood for the evening. Jokes and tears were to follow as Ralston told his powerful story.

Ralston said that he had set out for Blue John canyon with hopes for some solitude. He did, however, meet two girls, Megan and Kristi. They asked him to hike with them after they’d walked together for a while, however, Ralston’s destination was still a bit further on and he decided to go on ahead.

Ralston said that he went into a canyon with limited space. There were rocks in the way. He began climbing over and under the rocks, and was holding onto one to drop himself to the bottom of the canyon when it fell, pinning his right arm to the wall of the canyon.

“In the very first hour I knew I was going to have to cut my arm off. I don’t wanna cut my arm off,” Ralston said. He didn’t want to think about it.

Over the next few hours, Ralston tried chipping away at the rock, calling for help, and even making a pulley system to pull the rock from his arm. After doing the math, Ralston realized that it would take a month to chip a good enough size out of the rock, and he only had two days worth of water. Calling for help and hearing his voice disappear made him nervous. And his pulley system was made of ropes that were meant to absorb weight and could not lift the rock.

Once again, Ralston turned to the thought of cutting off his arm. However, he realized that it would be 8-10 hours between getting free and finding medical help. He believed it would be a slow act of suicide. He thought, however, of a more immediate suicide, believing that he was going to die in the canyon no matter what. However, Ralston said in that moment “I’m gonna see this through to the end.”

Ralston said this is the first step everyone should take in every aspect of their lives: deciding not to quit.

Ralston used a camcorder over the next few days to say his goodbyes. According to Ralston, this was the boulder’s first gift. “It showed me what was really important.” Ralston said that he realized that none of his life mattered; it was the relationships in his life that really mattered.

“Our boulders show us what’s important to us,” Ralston said. “It’s not just what you do, Aron,” Ralston said to himself. “It’s who you are.”

Ralston said that the trailer for the movie “127 hours” ends with, “There is no source on Earth more powerful than the will to live.” However, Ralston said “I think a lot of us know that there is a force more powerful than that. There’s love.”

Ralston spent about six days in the canyon, surviving on a dehydrated burrito and eventually his own urine. “Gives you perspective on what a bad day is. Did you have to drink your own urine?” Ralston joked.

He tried once more to cut off his hand and found that he could not cut through the bone. On the fifth day, Ralston even carved his own gravestone on the wall.

On his fifth night, Ralston experienced an out of body experience, walked through the rock wall and found a living room with a little boy. “I did see daylight,” Ralston said. “And it’s because of him.”

The next morning, Ralston decided to try one more time to get out, because he was determined to see his family again, and to one day see that little boy.

Ralston used the boulder to break his own arm, then cut through the skin. When he had finally cut off the trapped hand, Ralston said he was euphoric. “I stepped out of my grave and into my life.” Ralston said.

Ralston hiked out of the canyon and even repelled down a rock wall until he found a family who gave him water and helped him signal a rescue helicopter.

Ralston’s mother had begun contacting people several days after Ralston went missing. His family helped send out a rescue team. “It wasn’t just the helicopter that saved me,” Ralston said. “It was my mom.”

Ralston continued on to speak about how important family became to him after that. From his mother and father, to his sister, to his close friends, he tried to do more things with his family and friends.

Ralston now has a son, Leo, who he and his wife named for the courageous little lion. “He gave me the hope and strength for the night I almost didn’t get through,” Ralston said. Ralston also said that if he had to do it over again for his son, he would. “There’s someone in your life you’d cut your arm off for too.”

Today, Ralston continues to hike, climb, and raft. He has also been part of search and rescue teams, and is a wilderness advocate.

Ralston’s message is not just a message of survival. It is his message of love and hope. Ralston encouraged the tearful audience to embrace their boulders.

“Without the boulders, we wouldn’t know what’s important.”