A Montana nurse who survived a freak hiking accident that left him impaled by his own trekking pole relied on his medical training and determination to slog more than 10 miles back to safety, according to his friend and multiple news reports.
David Cifaldi, a wound care clinic nurse and former emergency room nurse, was climbing Granite Peak, Montana’s highest mountain, with two friends on July 20 when he slipped on loose rocks during the ascent, according to Fox News and Montana TV station KTMF.
The fall caused one of his trekking poles to pierce through his side, leaving the pole lodged in his body. Cifaldi told KTMF that the incident was “just kind of a freak thing.”
After realizing what happened, Cifaldi said his medical instincts immediately took over. He assessed his injuries and determined the situation was serious but not immediately life-threatening.
“I think my nurse brain clicked on,” Cifaldi said, per KTMF. “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.”
Cifaldi hikes out with pole still lodged in body
According to a GoFundMe page created by Cifaldi’s friend, Jesse Ross, the nurse fell at an elevation of about 11,800 feet after stepping on a loose rock and dropping one of his trekking poles.
The pole went through his lat muscle, with about 8 inches of space between the two wounds, Ross wrote on the fundraiser page. Cifaldi reported no major bleeding, loss of feeling or signs that a vital area had been struck.
Rather than remove the pole, Cifaldi and his friends decided he should attempt a self-rescue. The group carefully turned around and began the difficult descent, with the trekking pole still extending from Cifaldi’s body.
One friend used a satellite communicator to contact search and rescue while another stayed with Cifaldi and monitored his condition. Cifaldi also asked one of his friends to move ahead and warn approaching hikers so they would not unexpectedly encounter the injury.
After roughly 6 ½ hours of hiking, the group reached the trailhead. Cifaldi had traveled more than 10 miles over rugged terrain before being taken to a hospital.
Doctors remove trekking pole after mountain rescue
Cifaldi was transported about two hours to an emergency room in Billings, where doctors removed the pole, according to Ross.
The trekking pole remained lodged in his body for about eight to nine hours from the time of the fall until it was removed, Ross said. Cifaldi continues to recover at home and hopes to return to caring for patients. As of July 28, the GoFundMe for Cifaldi has raised over $4,900 of its $8,000 goal.
Looking back on the accident, Cifaldi said he knows the outcome could have been much worse.
“I feel very lucky,” the nurse told KTMF. “A couple inches the other way, and this would be a different story.”
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com or on X @athompsonUSAT