I managed with a torn anterior talo-fibular ligament and fractured fibula, to get down from CP 1 for medium score at the OMM of 2008 to Honister, to overnight camp, to be told the thing was abandoned, and back over Honister to HQ all right, all on adrenaline and in order to stay warm... but yes, life is full of what ifs
I am prone to hypothermia and hypoglaecemia so am well aware of it and how to self manage if I succumb regardless of precautions... Survival instinct is HUGE and it was ok to run/walk through the excruciating pain of a shoulder dislocation and the pain of the ankle (which was much less) just in order to not succumb to hypothermia... one hates to think what would happen if you are truely immobilised and can't work through the pain... as Ian says somewhere above: a broken ankle doesn't kill you, hypothermia can/will...!!!