Caver trapped in cave in Turkey has been “successfully rescued”

O An American caver who was trapped in a cave in southern Turkey was rescued this Thursday (at 00:37 on Friday, local time). Mark Dickey, 40 years old, was 1,120 meters deep in the Morca Cave when he suffered a gastrointestinal hemorrhage, on Saturday, the 2nd, and was forced to ask for help.

Authorities immediately warned that this would be a “long and difficult” operation, and the rescue involved hundreds of operators, coming from several countries, such as Italy, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria.

The rescue was expected between today and tomorrow, after authorities gave information that it was 180 meters deep. During the afternoon, those responsible said that the North American was “resting”, before returning to operations.

“At first glance, he appears to be fine. He will now be transferred to Mersin hospital”, explained the authorities, cited by CNN International

“Mark Dickey was taken from the last exit of the cave at 00:37 and taken to the UMKE tent [serviços de emergência]. Thus, the part involving the rescue in the cave was completed successfully. We thank everyone who contributed,” wrote the Turkish Caving Federation, which has been monitoring the caver’s rescue.

Mark Dickey was taken out of the last exit of the cave at 00:37 and taken to the UMKE tent. Thus, the cave rescue part of the operation ended successfully. We congratulate all those who contributed! #MarkDickey #caverescue #Morca #tumaf@AFADBaskanlik

— Turkish Caving Federation (@tumaf1) September 11, 2023

The rescue operation has been ongoing since Saturday, when the alert was given.

During the days during which the rescue operation was taking place, the man managed to show improvements. According to international publications, the medical intervention involved a blood transfusion and high doses of medication.

On Wednesday night, Turkish experts said Dickey’s condition was stable and the bleeding had stopped.

Dickey published a video in which he thanked the support provided “I want to thank everyone who is here and thank the cave community”, said the man, in the video shared by the Independent, making it known that the difficulties in communicating with the outside world prevented him from understand what was going on.

The rescue operation involved at least 200 operators, according to international press.

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