US man rescued from Turkish cave after more than a week
- Flow Australia
- Sep 11, 2023
- 2 min read
Rescuers have pulled a US researcher out of a deep Turkish cave after more than a week after he became seriously ill.
US researcher Mark Dickey has been rescued from a Turkish cave, more than a week after he fell ill 1000 metres below its entrance, the Speleological Federation of Turkey says.
Teams from across Europe had rushed to Morca cave in southern Turkey's Taurus Mountains to aid 40-year-old Dickey, who became seriously ill on September 2 with stomach bleeding.
Dickey was too frail to climb out so rescuers carried him with the help of a stretcher, making frequent stops at temporary camps set up along the way.
The American was first treated by a Hungarian doctor who went down the cave on September 3.
The cause of Dickey's illness was not clear.
Rescue teams successfully carried an American researcher up from the depth of a cave at 1040 metres to the 700m mark, where he will rest at a base camp before they continue the taxing journey to the surface.
An experienced caver, Dickey, 40, started vomiting on September 2 because of stomach bleeding while inside one of the deepest caves in the world.
A rescue operation began on Saturday afternoon with doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers from across Europe rushing to help.
They set up small medical base camps at various levels along the shaft, providing Dickey an opportunity to rest during the slow and arduous extrication.
Turkish authorities said there are 190 personnel from eight countries taking part in the operation, 153 of them search and rescue experts.
The most challenging part of the rescue operation is widening the narrow cave passages to allow stretcher lines to pass through at low depths, Yusuf Ogrenecek of the speleological federation previously said.
The extraction is expected to take up to 10 days depending on his condition.
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