Rescuers have pulled an American researcher out of a Turkish cave, more than a week after he became seriously ill 900 meters below the entrance, the Speleological Federation of Turkey said.
Teams from across Europe had rushed to Morca Cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to help 40-year-old Mark Dickey, who fell seriously ill on September 2 with a stomach haemorrhage.
He was on an expedition to map the cave, the third deepest in the country.
Dickey was too weak to climb out on his own, so rescuers carried him using a stretcher, making frequent stops at temporary camps set up along the way.
“Mark Dickey is out of Morca Cave,” said a statement from the caving federation. It said Dickey was removed from the cave’s final exit at 12:37 p.m. local time.
Rescuers have pulled an American researcher out of a Turkish cave, more than a week after he became seriously ill 900 meters below the entrance, the Speleological Federation of Turkey said.
A medical team cares for American caver Mark Dickey, mid-40s, in Morca Cave near Anamur, southern Turkey.
“He is doing well and is being cared for by medical providers in the encampment above,” the statement said.
Mark’s parents. Debbie and Andy Dickey thanked the international caving community, doctors and rescuers, and the Turkish government for their help in saving their son.
“The fact that our son, Mark Dickey, has been recovered from Morca Cave in stable condition is indescribably relieving and fills us with incredible joy,” they said in a statement.
The American was first treated in the cave by a Hungarian doctor who went down on September 3 to meet the sick explorer.
Doctors and rescuers then took turns caring for him. The cause of Dickey’s disease was not clear.
The biggest challenges for the rescuers were the steep vertical sections and navigating mud and water at low temperatures in the horizontal sections.
There was also the psychological toll of being in a dark, damp cave for long periods of time.
About 190 experts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey took part in the rescue operation, including doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers.
Dickey, 40, (photo inside the cave) was on an international exploration expedition in the Morca Cave in the Taurus Mountains in Mersin Province when he suffered gastrointestinal bleeding
More than 150 rescuers from around the world worked on the rescue mission in Turkey’s third deepest cave
Members of the CNSAS, Italian alpine and caving rescue workers, carried a stretcher carrying Dickey earlier Monday
Teams consisting of a doctor and three to four other rescuers took turns staying by Dickey’s side at all times.
The rescue began Saturday after doctors, administering IV fluids and blood, determined Dickey could not make the arduous climb.
Before the evacuation could begin, rescuers first had to widen some of the cave’s narrow passages, install ropes to pull him up on a stretcher in vertical shafts and set up temporary camps along the way.
Dickey, a native of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, is a noted cave explorer and himself a cave rescuer who has participated in many international expeditions.
He and several other people on the expedition were mapping the 1,200-meter-deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association. Dickey fell ill on September 2, but it wasn’t until the next morning that people above ground were notified.
Rescuers from Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Hungary and Turkey are involved in the mission
Turkish authorities on Thursday made available a video message showing Dickey standing and moving.
His condition appeared to improve during the climb and officials said he had had no bleeding or vomiting for two days.
While he was alert and talking, he said that he was “not healed inside” and that he needed a lot of help to get out of the cave.
He thanked the caving community and the Turkish government for their efforts to rescue him.