An experienced American caver trapped in Turkey’s third-deepest cave after falling dangerously ill delivered a video message from more than 3,000 feet underground as rescuers raced to save him.
“The cave world is a very close-knit group and it’s amazing to see how many people have responded on the surface,” Speleologist Mark Dickey said in a video shared by Turkey’s communications directorate on Thursday.
Dickey, 40, fell ill with gastrointestinal bleeding on Saturday while exploring the Morca cave in the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey and said the “quick response” by the Turkish government to send him medical supplies “saved” his life.
“I was very close to the edge,” said Dickey, head of the New Jersey Early Response Team based in Sussex County.
While expressing her gratitude, the Croton-on-Hudson resident said she still hasn’t “healed inside” but remains alert as she waits for help.
Speleologist Mark Dickey delivers a video message as he waits to be rescued after becoming seriously ill deep in the earth while conducting cave research.AP
Dickey fell ill with intestinal bleeding Saturday while taking part in an international expedition to map new routes inside Turkey’s third-deepest cave system.AP
The scientist shared that “communication” between himself and the rescuer above required “a day or two” to “go back and forth.”
Communication between ground-level rescuers and Dickey’s location had ceased because telephone lines set up inside the cave had become inoperable — with communications relayed by experienced cavers taking about eight hours each way.
Doctors participating in the international rescue operation will decide if he needs to be taken out on a stretcher or if he can go out on his own.
Turkish rescuers are helping with the complex operation to extract Dickey, which could take days or weeks.AP
“The operation is logistically and technically one of the largest cave rescues in the world,” the cave federation said in a statement.
The temperature in the area where Dickey was stuck fluctuated between 39 and 42 degrees, the New Jersey Early Response Team said.
Due to the narrow passage of the cave, it would be a challenge in itself just to run the stretcher line needed to rescue Dickey, according to Yusuf Ogrenecek of the Turkish Speleological Federation.
It could take anywhere from a few days to three weeks to safely lift Dickey from his current location, depending on the situation, Ogrenecek revealed.
Dickey was trapped at a depth of 3,280 feet, near the bottom of the Morca cave.AP
Several bivouac points are being set up so Dickey and the rescue team can rest on their way back.
Rescuers hope the extraction will begin this Saturday or Sunday.
Passages in the cave are being widened for safer extraction, and the danger of rock falls from the work is also a concern that rescuers are dealing with.
The rescuers were not only concerned about the physical toll Dickey would have to endure from being rescued but also what he might be experiencing psychologically from being trapped in the cave for such an extended period of time as he patiently waited to return to the surface.
The cave passage had to be widened to allow Dickey to be carried on a stretcher.AP
Because of the conditions and the cave’s temperature, Dickey was unable to climb out of the cave himself, the European Cave Rescue Association said on its website, explaining that Dickey himself is “a trained caver and cave rescuer himself. .”
Initially ill on September 2nd, it took until the morning of September 3rd to tell anyone else on the ground about his deteriorating condition.
Dickey has since stopped vomiting after he bled and lost fluid from his stomach, and the explorer has eaten for the first time in days, according to the New Jersey-based cave rescue group.
Dickey’s rescue has been described as one of the world’s most complicated to date.AP
The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service was the first to deliver a life-saving blood transfusion to stabilize his condition.
It is still unclear what caused him to develop a severe stomach ailment.
A total of 170 rescuers from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey took part in the operation.
Dickey is an experienced cave explorer and cave rescuer himself. via REUTERS
Each national rescue team is responsible for one of several sections of the cave as they attempt to perform variable rescues.
Dickey, a veteran instructor with the National Cave Rescue Commission, was co-leading an expedition to find and map a new route in the 4,186-foot-deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleological Group Association when he fell ill at around 10,000 feet. 3,674 feet before being transferred to the group’s base camp.
Andrew and Deborah Ann Dickey, the scientist’s parents, issued a statement thanking rescuers for their life-saving efforts.
“Mark is strong, but he needs his cave mates, including, of course, the doctor, to turn a scary situation into something positive,” Dickey’s parents said.
“Our prayers were answered and we can’t express how much that means, and will always mean, to us.”
With Postal wire.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
