Nurse slips and impales himself on trekking pole then climbs 10 miles for help
What was meant to be a fun day hiking turned into a traumatic ordeal for one emergency room nurse after he impaled himself on a trekking pole.
David Cifaldi, 32, joined two friends on July 20 to trek Granite Peak, Montana’s tallest mountain, when the freak accident occurred.
The three hikers were roughly ten miles into the challenging climb when Cifaldi lost his footing and slipped on some rocks.
While he thought nothing was wrong at first, the hiker soon realized he had landed on his trekking pole, which was sticking out of either side of his torso.
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Recalling the horrific experience to KTMF, Cifaldi said: "I just slipped on some rocks. It was just kind of a freak thing.
"I think my nurse brain clicked on. As soon as I was able to self-assess and establish that this was not life-threatening right now, I was pretty convinced I was going to get off that mountain under my own power."
The hiker went on to tell Backpacker that he was 'pretty confident' he'd sustained a soft tissue injury, and thanks to his medical knowledge, he convinced himself that the injuries were not life-threatening.
So, the nurse decided to leave the pole lodged in his body and then hike some ten miles down the mountain for help.
"At that point, I was up moving around, walking a little bit, and I was pretty confident that I could keep moving," Cifaldi added to Backpacker.
Jesse Ross, who was hiking with Cifaldi that day, wrote on a GoFundMe page that the nurse remarkably stayed in 'high spirits' during the trek down the mountain.
"David navigated the plateau’s snowfields and boulder fields, made his way down past Mystic Lake, and reached the trailhead entirely under his own power — never once complaining, staying in remarkably high spirit," Ross stated.
"Near Mystic Lake, he even asked one of us to hike ahead and warn other hikers, so no children would have to see the wound."
After a very painful six hour plus hike down the mountain with a pole lodged in his body, Cifaldi finally reached the bottom, where he was able to be transported to hospital.
The trekking pole was carefully removed, with the hiker describing to KTMF how 'lucky' he feels as a 'couple inches the other way, this would be a different story'.
The nurse may require surgery in the future, with a GoFundMe being set up to help assist with the costly medical bills.
Callum Jones