A diverse crowd scrambled for seats in the Student Union Theater on Tuesday to listen to the inspiring but grisly story of adventurer Aron Ralston.
Ralston made headlines in 2003 when he was forced to amputate his own arm after a hiking accident in Blue John Canyon, Utah.
After his accident, Ralston wrote a book about his experience called “Between a Rock and a Hard Place,” which inspired the movie “127 Hours.” He has also been traveling around the nation as an inspirational speaker.
This was the second lectureship series for the LSU chapter of Delta Gamma sorority, the first since Steve Ford, son of President Gerald Ford, spoke to the University in 2008.
The event was free and open to the public, which was made possible by fundraising and a $50,000 match given by Delta Gamma’s national chapter for lectureships.
Sabrina Trahan, mass communication junior and director of public relations for LSU’s Delta Gamma chapter, said it is interesting to compare Ralston’s speech to the movie “127 Hours.”
“We’ve been planning this since before the movie was nominated for Academy Awards,” said Trahan, a former Daily Reveille employee. “It’s been fabulous because we didn’t even realize how much of a buzz the movie would cause.”
Ralston described his trip down the canyon, the days of entrapment and his eventual freedom and rescue.
“I never cried, never said ‘Ow.’ There were no tears, there was definitely pain, but even more than that was joy. … My feet moved, I stepped out of my grave and into my life,” Ralston said.
Ralston’s emotional speech was colored with quips of humor that had the audience moving between crying and laughing.
“I definitely do think that humor is important,” Ralston said. “Not taking it too seriously — this critical moment that could be a positive or negative thing in my life. I have to keep it level when speaking. I take you to an edge and then bring you back.”
  Video: Video: Aron Ralston speaks on campus
 
Ralston said he has been able to pick up all the outdoor sports and adventures he enjoyed before the accident and sees the ordeal as a gift he is happy to have experienced.
“For sure I’ve run into self-imposed walls, and I went through some depression and great sadness,” Ralston said. “There’s only so much you can do for yourself before you have to ask for help. You have to move from what’s impossible to what is possible.”
Virginia Day, history junior and director of lectureship for Delta Gamma, said this event has been in the works for a while.
“Our adviser Jill Roshto e-mailed me about having Ralston come,” Day said. “She was in contact with someone from the lecture company and had booked Aron back in December. I think he was a great choice.”
Ralston continues his outdoor expeditions and became the first person to climb all 59 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains alone in winter, a conquest he began before his accident.
In 2008, Ralston became the first disabled person to ski down the 20,320-foot summit of Denali in Alaska.
Trahan said it has been funny to see male students excited about a sorority-sponsored event, and the response from varying groups of people has been encouraging.
“He is somebody that can draw a crowd because his story is recognizable and unique,” she said. “It is our privilege to have him here for free for the LSU student body and the Baton Rouge community.”
 
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Contact Morgan Searles at [email protected]