his arm against the chockstone far enough to snap the radius and ulna bones. Using the dull blade on his multi-use tool, he cut the soft tissue around the break. He then used the tool's pliers to tear at the tougher tendons. He was careful not to sever the arteries before attaching an improvised tourniquet. After he cut the main bundle of nerves, leading to agonizing pain, he cut through the last piece of skin and was free. In bad physical shape, and having lost more than a litre of blood, he managed to rappel 70 feet down and hike another 8 miles, when he ran into a Dutch family who offered help and guided him to a rescue helicopter which happened to be nearby looking for Ralston and took him to a hospital. His story was dramatized in the film 127 Hours (2010). In 2003, an Australian coal miner trapped three kilometres underground by an overturned tractor cut off his own arm with a box-cutting knife. The 44-year-old man, who was not identified by police, was working late at the Hunter Valley mine when the tractor tipped over, crushing his arm and trapping him. See also Self-inflicted caesarean section Self-medication References Citations Sources Morton WA (1991). Scrotum self-repair. Med Aspects Human Sexuality Jul 1991:15. Further reading Michell J (1984). Eccentric Lives & Peculiar Notions . Reprinted 2002. External links A reference to the Morton article on the Urban Legends Reference Page. Google Answers: SELF SURGERY ON ARMS Do it yourself Surgery