A Test of Will: One Man's Extraordinary Story of Survival

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Barrie, Ontario.

Warren MacDonald is an experienced hiker and mountaineer. Since
surviving the accident described in this book, he has also added writing
and motivational speaking to his resumé.

In April 1997, MacDonald was hiking on Australia’s Hinchinbrook
Island. Here he met Geert van Keulen, who had the ambitious plan of
hiking the island’s Mount Bowen. In a matter of minutes, MacDonald
decided to join him. The poorly marked route followed a dry stream bed.
By sundown they were forced to make a desperate camp on a rock slab, the
only flat ground available. Before turning in for the night, MacDonald
stumbled, without flashlight, across the boulders of the stream while en
route to relieve himself the recommended 250 yards from a freshwater
source. In a split second, that backcountry rule almost cost him his
life. As he climbed up on the opposite embankment, a rock slab broke
away under his hand, falling onto his pelvis and legs. No amount of
effort by either man could make the rock budge. The horror worsened when
rain flooded the creek into a raging torrent.

You read this assault on the human flesh with horror and relief. Horror
to realize the biting ants and looming vultures have put MacDonald on
the food chain. There is relief when the rescue comes, but it is
short-lived because the horrors of surgical amputation must be faced.
Relief comes also when the operations cease and MacDonald embarks on his
physical training. But fear clutches you again when MacDonald makes his
first post-accident ascent of Cradle Mountain.

More than an environmentalist, Warren MacDonald is a visionary who
continues to find solace in the natural world.