The American caver who fell ill at the bottom of a cave in Turkey earlier this month was rescued on Monday evening, the Turkish Speleological Federation announced.
“Mark Dickey has been evacuated. The rescue operation has been completed successfully”the federation emphasized.
Mark Dickey, 40, suffered an abdominal haemorrhage while exploring the Morca cave system, near Mersin (south), with an international team.
Mark’s parents, Debbie and Andy Dickey, stressed in a statement the “indescribable relief” at their son’s rescue “in stable conditions”.
About 190 experts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey took part in the rescue operation, including experienced doctors, paramedics and cavers.
According to Cenk Yildiz, leader of the Turkish emergency response organization in that region, who visited the site, the North American received bags of plasma and serum to stabilize his condition.
The hoisting of the stretchers through the galleries, sometimes lifted vertically, began in phases on Saturday afternoon.
American explorer Mark Dickey was eventually pulled out after being trapped in the third deepest Türkiye cave in Mersin. He reportedly suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding at a depth of 1,040 meters. More than 150 rescue workers from Türkiye and other countries were involved in the operations. pic.twitter.com/VbchNozWhc
– TRT World (@trtworld) September 11, 2023
Mark Dickey, who was at a depth of 1,120 meters when he became ill, managed to be placed under observation in a camp at a depth of 1,040 meters, following an appeal for help launched on Saturday, September 2, according to the European Speleological Service. Rescue Association.
Today the North American caver was lifted to a depth of just 100 meters while the remaining operation allowed the rescue to be successful.
In a video message sent from the cave and made available by the Turkish government last week, 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 quick response from the Turkish government to get me the medical supplies I needed. In my opinion it saved my life. I was very close to the limit.’
The caver, who appeared standing and moving in the video, said that although he was alert and talking, he was not “healed from the inside” and would need a lot of help to get out of the cave.
The American man who fell ill and became trapped in a cave he was exploring in Turkey spoke from about 3,000 feet underground. Mark Dickey was on an international exploration mission in Morca Cave in the Taurus Mountains when he suffered gastrointestinal bleeding pic.twitter.com/uiYupdpu3H
-Reuters (@Reuters) September 8, 2023
Morca Chasm is the third deepest cave in Turkey, on the Taseli Plateau, in a difficult-to-access mountainous area in Mersin province.
Source: DN
