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
you