Joe Simpson’s Survival: Did He Really Lose a Leg?

Joe Simpson’s Survival: Did He Really Lose a Leg?

Joe Simpson. Just the name conjures up images of impossible survival against all odds. His harrowing experience in the Peruvian Andes back in ’85, climbing Siula Grande, is legendary, especially thanks to his book “Touching the Void” and the movie that followed. But amidst all the talk of that fateful climb with Simon Yates, one question keeps popping up: did Joe Simpson actually lose his leg?

Okay, let’s get straight to it. The accident itself was a nightmare. Coming down from the summit, Simpson took a tumble and shattered his right leg – a truly awful break . I read somewhere that he basically crushed his tibia right into his knee joint . Imagine the pain! And this happened way up there, over 21,000 feet, making a bad situation almost impossibly worse .

Yates, his partner, tried to do the right thing, lowering him down with ropes. But then things went properly south. The weather turned nasty, and Simpson ended up dangling over a cliff edge . Talk about a rock and a hard place. Yates, facing a horrific choice, cut the rope. It was a decision that haunted him, and one that many have debated ever since. Simpson plunged into a crevasse, and everyone, understandably, thought he was a goner .

But here’s where the story takes an even more unbelievable turn. Simpson, against all conceivable odds, didn’t die. Battered, frozen, and with zero supplies, he spent three days crawling and dragging himself across that glacier, inching his way back to base camp . I mean, seriously, how do you even begin to do that? It’s the kind of grit that redefines the word “determination.”

So, the big question: did he lose the leg? No, he didn’t . But make no mistake, he was in a terrible state. Six surgeries followed, and the doctors weren’t exactly optimistic. I can only imagine hearing that you might never climb again, might even struggle to walk normally .

But Simpson being Simpson, he wasn’t about to take that lying down. He was back climbing by ’87 . Incredible! He kept at it for years, finally hanging up his boots in 2010. Later on, his knee gave him serious grief, leading to a full knee replacement back in January . The good news? He’s back on his feet, fly fishing, traveling – living life to the full .

The bottom line? Joe Simpson kept his leg, though it went through hell and back . His story isn’t just about climbing; it’s about the human spirit, about making impossible choices, and about staring death in the face and saying, “Not today.” It’s a story that sticks with you.