A steel pole pierced his body. He hiked 10 miles off a mountain anyway.

David Cifaldi slipped and impaled himself on his trekking pole

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A Montana nurse impaled by his own trekking pole high on the state's tallest mountain stunned rescuers by refusing a helicopter evacuation and hiking 10 miles back to safety with the steel shaft still sticking out of his body.

David Cifaldi, 32, was climbing Granite Peak with two friends after crossing the notorious Froze-to-Death Plateau when he slipped and his 44-inch steel-tipped trekking pole drove beneath his left arm and out through his back.

Remarkably, the pole missed his lungs and other vital organs.

Instead of calling for an airlift, Cifaldi — a wound care nurse at a Billings hospital — examined himself and concluded the injury was survivable.

"I was like, 'We've got to get off this mountain,'" Cifaldi said. While his friends questioned the plan, he remained confident. "I'm pretty confident this is outside my chest wall. 'Tis but a flesh wound."

The trio used a satellite Garmin inReach device to notify authorities they intended to make their own way down before setting off on a grueling six-hour trek across boulders, snowfields and rugged backcountry.

"The only reason it was possible at all was his confidence," friend Jesse Ross said. "He's the medical person. Our job was just to support."

Stillwater County Search and Rescue monitored the group's progress but did not intervene after Cifaldi declined assistance.

"There was no danger to anybody else," Search and Rescue commander Ty Williams said. "He didn't want our help and we're not going to force it on him."

After reaching their vehicle, the hikers drove to a nearby clinic before Cifaldi was transferred to St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings — the same hospital where he works.

Doctors removed the trekking pole, treated his injuries and released him. Within days, Cifaldi was back at work.

Looking back, he said he would make the same decision again.

"I think 99 times out of a hundred I would make the same decision," he said. He acknowledged the potential cost of a helicopter flight factored into his choice but said having two experienced friends and a way to contact rescuers gave him confidence to hike out on his own.

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: The Independent. Open at source →