A hiker walked more than 10 miles down Montana's highest mountain after accidentally being impaled by his own trekking pole, surviving thanks to quick thinking and a grueling six-hour descent.
David Cifaldi was climbing Granite Peak, Montana's tallest mountain, with two friends when he slipped on a rock and fell onto one of his trekking poles, which pierced his side.
Rather than removing the pole and risking more severe bleeding, the group left it in place and began the long hike back down the mountain while one friend alerted search and rescue teams.
After more than 10 miles and roughly six and a half hours, Cifaldi reached the trailhead, where he was taken to a hospital. Doctors safely removed the trekking pole, and he is now recovering at home.
A wound-care nurse, Cifaldi said his medical training helped him stay calm and quickly determine the injury was not immediately life-threatening.
"I feel very lucky," he said, adding that if the pole had entered just a few inches away, the outcome could have been far worse.