A Terrible Accident Learn English through story Level 3

story six

a mountain accident

aaron pulled his arm carefully at first

and then more strongly

but it did not come free

it was a beautiful spring day

and 27 year old aaron ralston was

walking in the mountains after a hard

week at work

the air was fresh

and the sun was high in the sky

aaron stopped walking to listen to the

silence of the mountains

this is wonderful he thought

no work or noise only beautiful country

around me

as he continued on his way

he heard a low noise

he looked up quickly at the mountainside

above him

but he was too late

large pieces of rock were falling toward

him and he could not escape quickly

enough

the earth was moving and the noise was

terrible

in seconds aaron’s arm was caught under

a rock that weighed 500 kilos

the pain was terrible

but aaron stayed calm

he knew a lot about the mountains he

knew how to live in the wildest and most

dangerous open spaces

he pulled his arm carefully at first and

then more strongly

but it did not come free

next he pushed the rock as hard as

possible

again

nothing

it was getting dark

aaron ate a small amount of food and

drank some of his water

he wanted to keep strong get some rest

and try again in the morning

after a difficult night’s sleep aaron

thought carefully about his problem

today was sunday a popular day for

walking

he decided to wait for help to arrive

he looked hopefully up and down the

narrow mountain path

but the mountains were empty and silent

the morning passed

and the sun moved to the west

by late afternoon it was too late for

walkers

aaron needed a different plan

using his climbing equipment he tried to

move the rock

he tried a number of different ways

but it was too heavy

next he took his pocket knife and tried

to break away small pieces of the rock

near his arm

this will destroy my good knife he

thought

but my life is more important

but the knife failed to cut even the

smallest piece of rock

aaron knew that he was really caught

he made himself as comfortable as

possible

for another lonely night

aaron had enough water and food with him

for a day’s walk but it was day three

now and the food was almost finished

he only had enough for one more small

meal

in his mind a difficult and dangerous

plan was growing

but he did not want to try yet

it was tuesday morning

after three difficult nights in the

mountains

aaron was tired and hungry

he drank the last of his water and

thought carefully

now he knew

that he had to cut off his arm

he took his knife from his pocket and

bravely put the metal against his skin

he pressed down hard

and began to cut

but after his work on the rock the knife

was not sharp

i couldn’t even cut the hair off my arm

he explained to newspaper reporters

later

aaron used the rock to make his knife

sharp again

then he cut through his skin

as far as the bone

then i found that i couldn’t cut the

bone he calmly told the reporters

for two more days aaron tried different

ways to cut his arm off

without food or drink his body was

getting weaker

but his mind was clear and strong

i did what i had to do he explained

aaron turned his arm the opposite way to

his body

the first arm bone broke easily

then he broke the second

he tied a piece of cloth tightly around

the top of his right arm to stop the

blood

then slowly

he cut through the rest of his arm

at last aaron was free

he looked down at his lifeless arm under

the rock

it seemed like a strange dream

his clothes were covered in blood and

the pain in his right shoulder was

terrible

aaron felt very small and unimportant

under the wide sky and tall dark

mountains

aaron was still in great danger

he was a long way from home and he was

losing blood fast

darkness was only a few hours away

he had to get to a road as quickly as

possible

he looked below him and thought

carefully

it was an eighteen meter drop to the

valley floor

but it was the fastest way back

he had to try

aaron started to lower himself down the

steep mountainside

it was hard slow work with only one arm

but finally his feet touched the valley

floor

the nearest road was still 16 kilometers

away there was no time to rest

aaron felt weak

it was difficult to think clearly

i am going to do it he told himself

just one step at a time

aaron started walking

he had to reach help quickly

one more night in the wild mountains was

too dangerous

each painful step took him closer to

help

but the walk was very long and difficult

at last after six hours aaron saw two

other walkers

he wanted to run and shout

but his body was too weak

when they finally saw him

the worried walkers gave aaron chocolate

cookies and water

then they moved him to open ground

here the flying mountain police found

the group and they took aaron

immediately to the nearest hospital

for the first time aaron knew that he

was safe

he was truly alive

hours later aaron lay quietly in his

hospital bed and looked up at the shiny

white walls around him

he was in a different world now

a small safe world of men and machines

but part of him belongs forever to the

wilder world of rock and mountain and

sky

aaron says that he cannot wait to get

out into the wild again

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