Impatient Climber Hacks Arm Off After Being Stuck Under Boulder For 127 Seconds

The Turnip News

MESA, ARZ. - The amazing perseverance of the human spirit and a strong will to live helped local climber Rex Jennings escape the Red River Canyon alive, but not without a price. During an afternoon of hiking and rock climbing on Saturday, Jennings fell in between a narrow crevice, wedging his left arm in between a large boulder and pinning him there for what seemed like an eternity. It wasn’t until 40 grueling seconds later, that Jennings first contemplated cutting off his own arm to escape.

“I remember being down there for so long. The first 10-15 seconds I kept thinking that someone would come save me. But after about 40 seconds, I drank all my water, ate all my food and I was beginning to hallucinate,” explained Jennings, who was close to giving up all other options for survival.
The exhausted hiker also documented much of his ordeal using his video camera, where he morbidly addresses his family that he might soon die, after feeling utterly hopeless at the 56-second mark.
The video camera has over a minute-and-a-half of raw, unedited footage.
Then, as if a sudden jolt of adrenaline along with a horrifying realization, Jennings then broke his arm and began to saw it off using his pocket knife. But at that point, being stuck for just under two minutes, what choice did he have.

“I knew I had been there long enough. If someone didn’t find me after two minutes, what’s another two minutes going to do for me. So I got out my pocket knife and started hacking away,” said Jennings.
When the dehydrated, exhausted hiker managed to escape the canyon, he was found by a group of nearby climbers 84-seconds later.

“It’s surprising that he could have lasted that long down there,” said rescuer David Krengle.
“I don’t know what I would have done, but he’s one tough son-of-a-bitch, being stuck down there for almost three minutes. But he did what he had to do. He would have died down there without any more food or water for another 127 seconds.”
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