Mark Dickey, U.S. Cave Expert, Rescued in Turkey

An American cave professional who turned sick whereas he was greater than 3,000 toes underground in a collapse Turkey, prompting a world rescue effort, was pulled safely from the cave quickly after midnight Tuesday morning native time and instantly delivered to a medical tent, the Speleological Federation of Turkey announced in a statement.

Whereas he was deep underground, the caver, Mark Dickey, 40, who’s himself an professional cave rescuer, suffered gastrointestinal bleeding and misplaced three liters of blood. He was a part of an expedition that was exploring the Morca cave, which he entered on Aug. 30. After he turned sick, a member of his social gathering made the harrowing, hourslong climb to the floor and alerted authorities on Sept. 2.

That introduced greater than 180 individuals from eight nations, together with Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland and the US, to assist rescue him. Lots of them camped out within the cave or close to its opening in a distant a part of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey.

The rescuers started transferring Mr. Dickey up the cave on Saturday afternoon, in keeping with the Speleological Federation of Turkey. The groups needed to navigate some slim passages, mentioned Yaman Ozakin, a spokesman affiliated with the Turkish cave rescuers.

The rescue groups put in communications techniques, blasted open slim areas so they may transfer Mr. Dickey by on a stretcher and used strains arrange contained in the cave to hold the stretcher out. At one level, Mr. Dickey managed to stroll a few meters to move slim paths, making the rescue effort simpler, Mr. Ozakin mentioned.

Meals, water, medication and blood had been delivered to the mouth of the cave and carried down by different cavers. Mr. Dickey acquired intensive medical care, together with blood transfusions, whereas he was within the cave.

A video shot contained in the cave on Sept. 6 confirmed Mr. Dickey carrying a pink puffy coat and a headlamp.

“As you may see, I’m up, I’m alert, I’m speaking,” Mr. Dickey mentioned within the video, “however I’m not healed on the within but, so I’m going to wish numerous assist to get out of right here.” He mentioned that earlier than medical assist arrived, he had felt “very near the sting.”

Mr. Dickey lives in New York State, however he leads the New Jersey Preliminary Response Crew based mostly in Sussex County, New Jersey. In a post on X, the social media platform previously often known as Twitter, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey mentioned that he had been in contact with Turkish officers about Mr. Dickey’s rescue.

Rescue employees mentioned that Mr. Dickey had been with two individuals when he fell sick. Different members of the 14-person expedition had been elsewhere within the cave system, or ready to enter, on the time.

The Morca cave, which is principally product of limestone, is the third deepest in Turkey, with a depth of 4,186 toes, or 1,276 meters, in keeping with the Turkish federation. It’s greater than 13,000 toes lengthy.

The European Cave Rescue Affiliation mentioned in a press release that Mr. Dickey was a extremely educated caver and a well known determine within the worldwide neighborhood of speleologists, or cave specialists, who had participated in lots of expeditions world wide.

He’s additionally a senior member of the European Cave Rescue Affiliation’s medical committee and an teacher for cave rescue organizations in the US, in keeping with the assertion.