Man impaled by steel pole, pulls himself off and crawls for help

Another amazing survival story. Sometimes I am blown away by how tough humans can be, or how calm.

Gary Walker, a 45-year-old from Melbourne, was out collecting timber for his bird aviaries when he slipped and a steel pole went through his upper thigh pinning him to the ground, according to a report from ninemsn.com. He called for help for about five to 10 minutes before using his belt as a tourniquet, pulling himself off, and crawling for about 90 minutes to his car to use his phone. 

There is also a video with Walker explaining how he managed to get himself to safety on ninemsn.com.

(Please accept my apologies in advance for the heinous commercials before the video.)

He clearly had an understanding of nature, noting efforts he made to avoid Bull Ants while dragging himself to his vehicle, but I am not sure spending time in the outdoors can fully prepare you for the psychologcical experience of being impaled. Who can imagine being impaled? Really?

Of course I do think knowing what to avoid and being comfortable with the landscape could have been what kept him calm enough to save his life.  I have never been seriously injured (knocking the top of my wooden coffee table as I type) so I really have no concept of how I would react to that level of pain, adrenaline and blood loss.

What do you think? How would you respond if you were impaled in familiar outdoor territory? Would you fare better in a parking lot in a strange city?

People amaze me.