The American explorer from Westchester County trapped in a Turkish cave for more than a week was rescued early Tuesday, authorities announced.
Mark Dickey, who fell ill on September 2 more than 3,000 feet below the entrance to Morca Cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountain, was carried out on a stretcher and given first aid once rescuers reached the surface, the Turkish Speleological Federation said in a statement.
“He is doing well and is being treated by emergency medical workers at the camp above,” the caving federation said of Dickey, a Croton-on-Hudson resident.
Dickey, who was suffering from stomach bleeding, was too weak to leave the Morca cave, so rescuers from across Europe rushed to help the 40-year-old, who is an experienced cave explorer.
“The fact that our son, Mark Dickey, has been brought out of Morca Cave in a stable condition is an indescribable relief and fills us with incredible joy,” his parents Debbie and Andy said in a statement.
The statement says he left the cave at 12:37 a.m. Tuesday local time.
Dickey had to be carried to safety on a stretcher. AP
Dickey was first treated by a Hungarian doctor who contacted him on September 3 as doctors and rescuers took turns treating him.
After the well-known cave researcher received intravenous fluids and blood, doctors decided he was ready for the daring climb.
Dickey was too weak to leave the cave. TURKISH DIRECTION OF COMMUNICATI/AFP via Getty Images
The rescue was an international effort in which some 190 experts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey collaborated.
Dickey, the head of the New Jersey Initial Response Team, was mapping the 4,186-foot-deep cave system for the Anatolian Caving Group Association.
The group previously said it began its clandestine mission with others on August 31.
While still stranded in the cave, he sent a video message expressing his gratitude.
“The caving world is a tight-knit group and it’s amazing to see how many people have responded to the surface,” he said last week.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn