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One day a hiker was traveling along a mountain trail. He had planned to follow the trail for several miles before retracing his steps back to the point where he started. Several miles down the path the climb started to get steeper and more rugged. As he continued on, the path grew more narrow. The man trudged upward, being careful to watch his step as the slope became more difficult. He began to wonder if it was a good idea to continue because a person might get injured if they fell over the edge.

Just as he assessed his position, the man heard a faint cry for help. He could not tell exactly where the voice was coming from, but it seemed to be echoing up from somewhere below. Peering down, he could see nothing at first, so he called downward, “Hello! Where are you?”

Again he heard a voice answering back, “I’m down here below you! I fell off the edge and got pinned under a rock. Can you please climb down and help me?”

The man thought about going down the mountain to find someone more qualified to rescue the person, but decided he would go down and see what he could do to help first. Working his way down, he kept calling out until he was able to see where the other man was trapped beneath a large rock. On arriving at the scene, he was greeted by the stranger.

“Oh thank you so much for coming down here,” the stranger said. “My name is Tom, and I have been trapped down here for hours. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along.”

“Just take it easy, Tom,” the man replied. “My name is Stewart. Let me have a look to see what I can do to help you.”

As Stewart looked over the situation, he noticed that one of Tom’s legs was pinned tightly under a big rock. He looked around for a branch big enough to use as a lever to lift the rock off Tom enough to allow him to free his leg. The two men worked together for several minutes, and finally succeeded in getting Tom loose. Tom rubbed his leg and foot, obviously relieved.

“How does it feel?” asked Stewart. “Do you think you can stand up?”

“Yes, I guess it’s all right,” replied Tom. “I think it was more stuck than anything else. If you don’t mind though, I could use your help getting down from here, because my other foot is pretty badly mangled.”

With this statement, Tom moved his other leg out from under where he had been sitting, revealing the terrible injury to his other foot.

“Oh my God,” said Stewart, who was obviously shocked by the appearance of Tom’s foot. “How did that happen?”

Tom explained, “Well, before you found me, both my feet were pinned under that rock. After several hours passed, I wasn’t sure anyone would come along to rescue me. I have to admit that I panicked a little, so I chewed off my foot in an effort to free myself.”

Stewart was amazed by this story of survival, “You chewed off one foot to escape, so why didn’t you do the same thing with your other foot?”

Tom answered, “Well, while I was chewing off the first foot, I managed to break one of my teeth. It hurt so much, I thought I should have a dentist look at it before I ate anything else.”