The American cave explorer who was freed from a Turkish cave after being imprisoned for more than a week believed he “probably” wouldn’t survive, he said on NBC’s “TODAY” show on Thursday.
“I have no idea what’s happening, but it’s probably not life-threatening,” to “This is life-threatening, I need help,” were the initial statements. The 40-year-old Mark Dickey shared his experience of being trapped with broadcasters Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
Alongside his fiancée, Jessica Van Ord, who assisted in his rescue, he stated, “I was down to single-word interaction, in the fetal position, barely moving, at one point.”
According to the European Cave Rescue Association, Dickey, a New Jersey native, was rescued early on Tuesday after a daylong operation, climbing up on a stretcher from his location at a camp around 3,400 feet below the surface.
According to officials, the operation, which included more than 150 rescuers and the use of explosives to open up narrow corridors, was one of the biggest and most complicated cave rescues in history.
According to Gretchen Baker, national coordinator of the National Cave Rescue Commission, where Dickey has spent the last ten years instructing cave rescue courses, his struggle started on September 2 at Morca, Turkey’s third-deepest cave, where he was assisting in leading an expedition and hoping to explore a new passage.
Dickey developed stomach bleeding during the excursion and was unable to leave the cave by himself. In order to bring him assistance, Van Ord had to leave his side.
Dickey said on Thursday that he tried to “communicate information” while he was ill so that Van Ord might transfer it to others if he lost consciousness.
He continued, “Any information she had, the better equipped she’d be to provide care.”
In addition to being a caver, Van Ord is a paramedic. According to Dickey, Van Ord, and Turkish and Hungarian cavers descended approximately 3,300 feet to fetch the fluids they needed.
Van Ord explained, “It’s not that I didn’t trust someone else to go; it’s just that I knew I was absolutely fit for that job so I could get out of there and then go back as soon as possible.
She continued, “I wanted to be involved so that everything worked smoothly.
When the rescuers finally got to Dickey, he said he “felt confident” he’d survive because of the cavers’ competence in getting to him so deep underground.
It was practically a foregone conclusion that they would reach the surface, he said.
Dickey is currently getting better at a hospital in Mersin, a city in Turkey on its southern coast.
In contrast to where he had been at the beginning of the rescue, he said he was now “feeling very good.”