Trapped climber cuts off arm with pocketknife

AFTER being trapped under a boulder for five days in a remote area of southern Utah, USA, Aron Ralston resorted to a desperate measure. He cut off his arm with a pocketknife, according to the sheriff’s deputies. Officers found Ralston around 3pm on Thursday walking and covered in blood.

"Once he cut his limb off, he had to climb down to the base of the cliff so he could come out of the canyon," said Sgt Mitch Vetere of the Emery County Sheriff's Office. "He's got to be the toughest guy I've ever seen."

Ralston, 27, from Aspen, Colorado, had embarked on what was to be a one-day solo climb on Saturday in Bluejohn Canyon, adjacent to the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park.