{"id":18623,"date":"2026-07-27T08:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T03:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=18623"},"modified":"2026-07-27T08:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T03:19:08","slug":"er-nurse-impales-himself-on-trekking-pole-in-freak-hiking-accident-and-miraculously-climb-10-miles-for-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=18623","title":{"rendered":"ER Nurse impales himself on trekking pole in freak hiking accident and miraculously climb 10 miles for help"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2Ftrekking-pole-comp-1.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A nurse impaled himself on a trekking pole in a freak hiking accident and miraculously climbed 10 miles down Montana\u2019s tallest mountain for help \u2014 with the rod sticking out of either end of his torso the whole time. <\/p>\n<p>David Cifaldi, a 32-year-old emergency room nurse, was 11,800 feet into climbing Granite Peak with his two friends last Monday when he suddenly slipped and landed on the pole, according <a href=\"https:\/\/local12.com\/news\/nation-world\/montana-hiker-impaled-trekking-pole-granite-peak-hiked-10-miles-safety-help-david-cifaldi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to KTMF<\/a> and a GoFundMe created for his medical expenses.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>David Cifaldi, 32, impaled himself on a trekking pole after slipping on rocks while climbing Montana\u2019s Granite Peak. <span class=\"credit\">KCEN\/YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI just slipped on some rocks,\u201d Cifaldi told the outlet. \u201cIt was just kind of a freak thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After getting up, Cifaldi noticed one of his trekking poles had cleanly pierced through his side.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think my nurse brain clicked on,\u201d he said. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Cifaldi and his pals decided to leave the pole lodged in his body and hike more than 10 miles over rugged terrain \u2014 descending over the peak\u2019s boulders and snowfields to reach the trailhead to get help, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Cifaldi managed to descend 10 miles down the peak\u2019s rugged terrain with the help of his pals to get medical attention.  <span class=\"credit\">KCEN\/YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One friend used a satellite communicator to contact local search and rescue while another stayed with Cifaldi to help him navigate the crucial trek. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDavid navigated the plateau\u2019s snowfields and boulder fields, made his way down past Mystic Lake, and reached the trailhead entirely under his own power \u2014 never once complaining, staying in remarkably high spirits,\u201d Jesse Ross, who was hiking with Cifaldi, wrote in a GoFundMe statement. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNear Mystic Lake, he even asked one of us to hike ahead and warn other hikers, so no children would have to see the wound,\u201d Ross said. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Cifaldi, an emergency room nurse, is now facing significant medical bills from the harrowing accident. <span class=\"credit\">KCEN\/YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cifaldi reached the trailhead after 6-and-a-half hours and was taken to a hospital before being transferred to Intermountain Health in Billings, where the trekking pole was finally removed. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel very lucky,\u201d Cifaldi recalled. \u201cA couple inches the other way, and this would be a different story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The nurse is now recovering and hopes to quickly return to helping his patients \u2014 but is facing \u201csignificant medical bills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The fundraiser to raise money for Cifaldi\u2019s medical expenses, including a possible upcoming surgery, has raised over $2,700 of its $10,000 goal. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A nurse impaled himself on a trekking pole in a freak hiking accident and miraculously climbed 10 miles down Montana\u2019s tallest mountain for help \u2014 with the rod sticking out of either end of his torso the whole time. David Cifaldi, a 32-year-old emergency room nurse, was 11,800 feet into climbing Granite Peak with his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/trekking-pole-comp-1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}