Rescuers from all over Europe were called to a cave in Turkey to try to save an American researcher who was trapped almost a thousand meters below the entrance after suffering a stomach hemorrhage.
Experienced caver Mark Dickey, 40, suddenly fell ill during an expedition with a group of people, including three other Americans, to Morca Cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, the European Cave Rescuers Association said.
Although rescue teams, including a Hungarian doctor, reached Dickey and treated him, it could be days or even weeks before they can get him out of the cave, which is too narrow for a stretcher to pass through.
In a video message sent from inside the cave and made available Friday by the Turkish government, Dickey thanked the caving community and Turkey for their efforts.
“The caving world is a very close-knit group and it’s amazing to see how many people responded,” said Dickey, who was especially grateful for “the Turkish government’s quick response to get me the medical supplies I needed. In my opinion, it saved my life.” “I was very close to the limit.”
The caver, seen standing and moving in the video, said that although he is alert and talking, he is not “healed inside” and will need a lot of help to get out of the cave. The doctors will decide if he will have to leave the cave on a stretcher or if he will be able to get out on his own.
Dickey, who was bleeding and leaking fluid from his stomach, stopped vomiting and ate for the first time in days, according to a New Jersey cave rescue group he is associated with.
The cave is also quite cold (between four and six degrees Celsius) and communication with the speleologist lasts between five and seven hours.
Yusuf Ogrenecek of the Turkish Caving Federation said one of the most difficult tasks in cave rescue operations is widening narrow cave passages to allow stretchers to pass at shallow depths.
Stretcher handles are difficult to handle and require experienced rescuers to work long hours, Ogrenecek said.
The doctors will decide if he will have to leave the cave on a stretcher or if he will be able to get out on his own.
More than 170 people are currently involved in the rescue effort, including doctors, paramedics treating Mark Dickey and experienced cavers, Ogrenecek said, adding that the rescue operation could last two to three weeks.
The operation includes rescue teams from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey.
Mark Dickey was described by the association as “a highly trained speleologist and himself a cave rescuer”, well known as a clandestine researcher or speleologist, due to his participation in many international expeditions.
The researcher was on an expedition mapping the Morca cave system, 1,276 meters deep, for the Anatolian Caving Group Association.
Rescuers hope extraction can begin on Saturday or Sunday. The cave has been divided into several sections and each will be managed by a rescue team from each country involved.
The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, made up of volunteer rescuers, was the first to arrive at the caver’s location and performed emergency blood transfusions to stabilize his condition.
Source: TSF
