Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Lee Ralston
Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Lee Ralston
LoTempio Law Blog Book Review
About the book
Aron Lee Ralston presents the full story behind the 2003 event that became worldwide news: during what began as a routine day hike he was trapped by a boulder in the Canyonlands National Park in eastern Utah, he was forced to amputate his lower right arm in order to free himself. He then fashioned a tourniquet for the arm, rappelled 75 feet down the canyon and started walking. He walked seven hours before being found by rescuers.
My review of the book
Does life sometimes present you with hard choices? How may times will one decision irrevocably change your life? What if you had to cut off your own arm to save your life? Could you do it? Could anyone? Aron Ralston did it and he describes it in detail in the pages of this book.
In order to read this book you have be in the right frame of mind because Aron is extremely articulate and his graphic descriptions “pull no punches.” The good news is once you have read this book, the answer to the questions I posed at the beginning of this post will be: whatever problems I have, really aren’t so difficult for me to handle.
I read this book because I thought if anyone could relate to Aron I could. I cut off my right hand when I was 12 years old. It wasn’t intentional but the result was the same; we had to stop the bleeding by tourniquet until there was medical attention; we had to learn to become left hand dominant even though we were born right handed; and we had to tackle life with a new awareness. Aron finishes the book with this quote:
“Our purpose as spiritual beings is to follow our bliss, seek out our passion and live out our lives as inspirations to each other, everything else flows from that.”
People tell me they are inspired by me, they say, “I couldn’t rebound like you did with that injury.” But I say it’s no big deal, you could and you would because your only choice is to live life to the fullest and go forward. Giving up is not an option.
I found inspiration in the strength of Aron Ralston’s words and deeds. He has reinforced my belief that the human spirit is much more resilient than we give ourselves credit. Remember no matter what the circumstance just follow your bliss!
About the Author
Aron Lee Ralston was born October 27 1975 in Indiana, USA. He was a student of mechanical engineering and French at Carnegie Mellon University and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. At Carnegie Mellon, he served as a Resident Assistant, studied abroad, and was an active intramural sports participant.
He left his job as a mechanical engineer with Intel in 2002 to climb all of Colorado’s “fourteeners”, or peaks over 14,000 feet high during the winter season. He is now a motivational speaker.
127 HOURS is the new movie from the Academy Award winning director Danny Boyle, about Aron Ralston’s remarkable story. In the film Aron Ralston is played by actor James Franco.
