Photo not related to article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo not related to article. [Getty Images Bank]

A man in the United States was impaled by a hiking pole during a mountain climb — and despite serious injuries, walked roughly 16 kilometers to safety before receiving treatment.

According to CNN and the New York Post, David Cifaldi, 32, of Montana was climbing Granite Peak — the state's highest summit at 3,904 meters above sea level — with two friends on July 20 when he slipped on a rock.

A hiking pole pierced his side in the fall, but Cifaldi, a wound-care nurse with emergency room experience, calmly assessed his own condition. He took several deep breaths to check for lung damage and, finding no bleeding, loss of sensation or dizziness, determined that his injuries were not immediately life-threatening.

Cifaldi decided to descend without removing the pole. One friend used a satellite communication device to call for rescue, while the other walked behind him, monitoring his condition throughout.

With the pole still lodged in his body, Cifaldi hiked for about six and a half hours along rugged mountain trails, covering 16 kilometers to reach the trailhead.

From there, he was transported by vehicle to a hospital roughly two hours away, where medical staff removed the pole.

Now recovering at home, Cifaldi told local media he felt fortunate to be alive. "I was really lucky," he said. "If the pole had gone in just a few centimeters in a different direction, the outcome would have been completely different."


choigo@heraldcorp.com