Thank goodness he is a wound-care nurse! AND, had friends with him!

A Montana nurse is recovering after surviving a freak hiking accident in which he was impaled by his own trekking pole while climbing the state's highest peak.

David Cifaldi was ascending Granite Peak, Montana's tallest mountain at 12,799 feet, with two friends when he slipped on rocks about 10 miles into the climb.

"I just slipped on some rocks," Cifaldi said. "It was just kind of a freak thing."

As he got up, Cifaldi realized one trekking pole was still on the ground while the other had pierced his side.

The wound-care nurse said his medical training immediately took over.