Axe Wound Nearly Benches McArthur For Season

Gord McArthur is competing at the the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup. Recently, he had a road-side operation at a gas station, one that might have saved his competition year.

McArthur, along with Nathan Kutcher and Jen Olson, are travelling Europe and Asia competing at the ice climbing world cup. After a strong showing in Korea, McArthur and Kutcher nearly made it to finals in Romania. During the speed competition, McArthur ripped his tool through the barely formed ice, his tool stabbed his right leg above his knee-cap. Speed climbing tools are sharper and shorter than ice or mixed climbing tools.

After being lowered, he examined the wound which did not look bad, but the tool had sunk to its first tooth and threatened important soft tissue such as muscles and tendons. He left the competition with Marc Beverly who is competing for the U.S. and is a doctor and had the tools necessary to stitch McArthur up. Two days later, McArthur’s knee was swollen, Beverly took care of it with a small road-side operation.

McArthur wrote on his Facebook page, “This morning I woke up to my knee swollen, badly. and in a lot of pain. Hurt to walk, but thanks to Marc Beverly, the doc, at a gas station near by, he ‘operated’ on my leg, drained a bunch of ‘bad fluid’ into his cappuccino cup, then pumped ‘cocktail’ back in. Knee feels so much better now. Climbed all day, no problem. Thanks Beverly, you saved my season!”

With a correspondence with Gripped, McArthur said, “Speed tools are sharper than you can imagine, like coat hangers with razor blades. My knee is feeling better and I am psyched for this weekends competition in Switzerland.”