By Hamdi Gökbulut, Hannes Ravic and Moritz Wedel
Cave explorer Mark Dickey (40) was trapped in the dark and cold for nine days. At a depth of around 1,250 meters he suddenly had stomach bleeding. Now he’s back in the daylight!
It was shortly after midnight Turkish time when rescuers freed the American from the famous Morca Cave in Mersin. Previously, Dickey lay on a stretcher and was brought inch by inch toward freedom in a very small space.
Around 50 emergency services stood around the access hole and camped at the entrance to the cave. Diesel generators hummed to power halogen spotlights. An icy cold wind was blowing. In the cold, the rescuers wore down jackets.
Just days ago, all communication was via radio. Shortly before the rescue, shouts could be heard from the cave. The mood changed – and was now visibly relaxed!
Rescued cave explorer Mark Dickey speaks to reporters Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Then EVERYONE breathed a sigh of relief: At 12:33 a.m. local time (11:33 p.m. German time) Mark Dickey saw the sky again for the first time. When he was brought out to applause, the night was starry. Six emergency services carried him tied up on a stretcher into a hospital tent.
The US researcher was wrapped in silver foil, had a full beard and had tired but alert eyes. Dickey was conscious and breathing on his own. His fiancée didn’t leave his side.
This is how the rescue operation went
“The crews are working on getting him (Mark, editor) out tonight,” the cave society had already explained on the online service X (formerly Twitter) on Monday evening. In a press conference it was said that the rescue would be completed by Tuesday morning at the latest. A promise that the emergency services kept.
Rescuers from numerous countries came to rescue the sick US cave explorer. He wanted to explore the sinkhole, the third largest cave in Turkey, with an expedition team when he developed stomach bleeding at a depth of around 1,250 meters.
The photo published by the Italian CNSAS shows members of the CNSAS, alpine and speleological rescuers, transporting a stretcher carrying the sick US researcher Mark Dickey during the rescue operation through the Morca Cave Photo: CNSAS, Italian Alpine Speleological Rescue/AP/dpa
In Dickey’s underground camp it was recently only four degrees. Doctors repeatedly provided the cave explorer, who had been trapped since September 2nd, with blood transfusions to stabilize him and tried to prevent his body from becoming hypothermic.
On Monday morning, a new team of cave professionals descended to replace the rescuers and prepare Mark Dickey for the final meters of his rescue.
It is said to have risen 20 meters within an hour. A final camp had been set up at an altitude of 180 meters where Dickey received medical care and food and drink. He rested there before heading into the home straight.
Now the doctors gave the green light: nothing stood in the way of the climb to freedom!