American explorer was safely rescued on Monday night, September 11, nine days after being trapped more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) underground in a cave in southeastern Turkey.
“Mark Dickey was removed from the last exit of the cave,” the Turkish Caving Federation said, adding that the “cave rescue part of the operation has ended successfully. We congratulate all those who have contributed!.”
40-year-old Mark Dickey is an experienced caver who embarked on an expedition mission at the end of August with a group of others, including three other Americans, to map one of the deepest caves in the world – the Morca cave system in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains.
He suffered gastrointestinal bleeding on Sunday, September 2.
The American was first treated by a Hungarian doctor who went down the cave on Saturday, September 3 to help stabilise his condition.
“My consciousness started to get harder to hold on to, and I reached the point where I thought I’m not going to live,” he told BBC News.
About 190 experts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey participated in the rescue operation, including doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers.
The rescue began on Saturday, September 9, after doctors, who administered IV fluids and blood, determined that Dickey could make the challenging climb.
The rescuers first had to widen some of the cave’s narrow passages, install ropes to pull him up vertical shafts on a stretcher and set up temporary camps along the way before the evacuation.
After his rescue, the head of Turkey’s disaster and emergency management Presidency, Okay Memis, in a press conference stated that Dickey’s health was “very good.”
The European Cave Rescue Association (Ecra) expressed its “huge gratitude to the many cave rescuers from seven different countries who contributed to the success of this cave rescue operation.”
“It is amazing to be above ground again,” Dickey told reporters, he thanked the Turkish government for saving his life with its rapid response rescue team.
