'Tis but a flesh wound': Hiker impaled by walking pole walks ten miles to avoid paying helicopter fee
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WARNING: Graphic photo
A hiker walked ten mines with a 44 inch pole through his torso before declaring "tis but a flesh wound."
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David Cifaldi, 32, and two of his friends were hiking in Montana's Beartooth Mountains when the accident happened.
He was crossing the Froze-to-Death Plateau - an icy stretch of the hike - when the pole pierced through his torso, entering under his left arm and the tip coming out through his back.
Instead of requesting a helicopter rescue, Mr Cifaldi, a nurse, said "I'm pretty confident this is outside my chest wall. 'Tis but a flesh wound."
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He told the Associated Press that he did not experience much pain or blood so he decided to trek back down unaided.
Ty Williams, a rescue-team leader who tracked the group’s progress down the mountain, said: "There was no danger to anybody else. He didn’t want our help and so we’re not going to essentially violate his rights or go against his wishes by forcing our help on him."
He walked for six hours to safety through snowfields before making it back to their truck.
One of his friends said: “Who are we to say anything? He’s the medical person. Our job is just to support at that point.”
Mr Cifaldi ended up at the hospital where he works in Billings, where doctors removed the pole and bandaged his wounds.
"The fact that I had two experienced, great friends with me and we had the ability to contact search and rescue if something went wrong made that a lot more of an easy decision," he said.