Impaled by His Own Trek Pole, Hiker Walks 10 Miles Down to Avoid Costly Evac

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BILLINGS, Mont. - A Montana nurse’s hiking trip with friends turned into a fight for survival when he was impaled by a trekking pole during a climb up the state’s tallest mountain — then walked more than 10 miles to safety with the object still stuck in his body, People reported.



David Cifaldi, 32, of Billings, was climbing Granite Peak with two friends on July 20 when he slipped on rocks while ascending the 12,799-foot mountain, according to The New York Post. The group was about 10 miles into the challenging climb when the accident occurred, The Guardian reported.



As Cifaldi fell, one of his trekking poles pierced through his torso. The nurse said his medical instincts immediately took over as he tried to determine the severity of the injury.


“It was just kind of a freak thing,” Cifaldi told KTMF. He said he was able to feel the trekking pole through his skin and took several breaths to make sure it had not entered his chest cavity or injured his lung.



Cifaldi’s hiking partners photographed the injury so he could evaluate the damage. According to a GoFundMe campaign created to help with his recovery, his friend Jess Ross said the pole went completely through his lat muscle, leaving openings several inches apart.



Despite the shocking injury, Cifaldi believed he could continue moving. After determining the wound appeared to involve soft tissue rather than a life-threatening injury, he decided he could make his way back down the mountain on foot.

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People – With the pole still lodged in his body, Cifaldi and his friends began the more than 10-mile trek back down the mountain, navigating rugged terrain including snowfields and boulder fields. The nurse used his running vest chest strap like a sling, and one of his friends walked behind him to monitor for bleeding.

Several hours into the walk, Cifaldi told Backpacker, the three friends knew they were “gonna make it” and started “making kebab jokes” to lighten things up.

Ross wrote on the GoFundMe that Cifaldi made the trek down “entirely under his own power — never once complaining, staying in remarkably high spirits.”

“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,” Ross added.

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