Aron Ralston

Aron Ralston (born October 1975) is an American who became famous in May 2003, for cutting off his own arm with a dull knife.

Ralston was Phi Beta Kappa in mechanical engineering and French at Carnegie Mellon University. He left his job (as a mechanical engineer) with Intel in 2002 to return to Colorado to do more hiking and climbing. While on a mountaineering trip in Blue John Canyon (near Moab, Utah), a boulder fell and pinned his right forearm down, crushing it. He waited for rescue for several days, but none was forthcoming. On the third day, he ran out of water. Rather than die of exposure, he used a dull multitool he had with him to sever his arm. Although he refused to name which brand (other than to say it was not Leatherman), he did describe it as "the kind you get with a $15 flashlight and it's free, which is probably how I got it."

"He's obviously one tough guy," said Sgt. Mitch Vetere, one of the Emery County Sheriff's Office searchers who first located Ralston in a remote area 60 miles south of Green River, Utah.

On July 21, 2003, Ralston appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman.

On September 10, 2004, Ralston's story was featured on a two-hour edition of Dateline NBC.