Big deal!
Everyone is all "Oh deary me my lord almighty god and jesus! I can't believe what he did! He is so brave! He's a true hero!"
Does anyone think they would not do the same thing if they were in his position? Seriously... Come on. Your arm or your life? I mean, sure, being dead would be cool and all, but most people don't have the will to die when they can do something about it.
They said this guy was in really good physical condition. The boulder was 200 pounds in weight... What the fuck? 200 pounds? What the hell kind of position was he in that he couldn't push 200 pounds off of him? I mean I can bench 200 pounds! Actually, I don't know if I can bench 200 pounds... Actually, I don't even know what "bench" is, but everyone always says it all the time so there...
Anyway...
In contrast to many beliefs of him being brave, he may have actually been a wimp. This all depends on his location. It could stand to reason that he should have sawed his arm off long before he did! If he was in a place where other people were unlikely to travel, or if he was in some sort of other immediate danger, I say he should have cut it off before waiting 4 days for his strength to deteriorate. Genius.
Coming back to my point on pushing the 200 pounds away? Maybe he was in so much pain in his arm that when he tried to push, it hurt him too much and he had to stop. Who's the brave, strong hero now? I'll tell you: NOT HIM!!!
Actually, I'll tell you why he couldn't do it. I came up behind him on the mountain and kicked him several times in the chest, stomach and shoulder. It took him a few days to recover. That explains everything, doesn't it?
Seriously, though, and on a final note... Cutting off your arm wouldn't really hurt after a while. You'd probably get used to it pretty quick, and the desire to survive would help a lot. Also, the dizziness from hungry and thirst contributed to numbing. All in all, there's hardly any way this guy is better than any other person out there.
~Take that.~
Edit: I later learned that the boulder was actually more than 200 pounds, but I'm not gonna change it so...uhhh...fuck you.