CNN –
An American cave explorer was rescued by rescue workers near Anamur in southern Turkey after becoming stranded hundreds of meters underground earlier this month.
Mark Dickey is “in the hands of a rescue worker. At first glance he seems to be fine. He will be taken by helicopter to hospital in Mersin,” Recep Salci of the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Tuesday as footage emerged of him being carried out of the cave on a stretcher with a grin on his face.
Speaking in a medical tent near the cave, Dickey said it was “amazing to be above ground again.”
He thanked his rescuers and the Turkish government, which he said “saved my life, no questions asked,” adding: “I was underground for much longer than I ever expected and had an unexpected medical problem. “
Dickey probably suffered from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage while in the 1,276-meter-deep Morca Sinkhole in the Morca Valley, the Turkish Speleological Association said.
The European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA) received a call on September 2nd saying he was suffering from severe stomach pain.
Turkish Government Communications/AP Directorate
American cave explorer Mark Dickey, 40, was trapped in the Morca sinkhole in southern Turkey.
An international rescue operation led by at least 200 helpers began on Saturday. The operation planned to divide the cave into seven parts and assign responsibility to rescue teams from different countries – including the United States, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Turkey – at different depths, ECRA said.
Rescue teams had brought Dickey to a depth of 180 meters (590 feet) below the surface and eventually recovered him from the cave.
In an update on Monday, the Turkish Caving Association said Dickey’s rescue would be completed “tonight or tomorrow.”
“If all goes well, our goal is to fully rescue Mark by tonight or tomorrow,” the association said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
There was a doctor with Dickey in the cave, and the rescue team received instant messages from them over an established communications line.
Italian Mountain Rescue/Portal
Members of the Italian Mountain Rescue Service, pictured on Thursday, take part in an emergency operation to rescue Dickey.
The Turkish Speleologists Association said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Dickey was removed from the last exit of the cave at 12:37 a.m. local time.
“This means that the cave rescue part of the operation was successfully completed. We congratulate everyone who contributed,” the association said.
According to the website of the Caving Academy, a nonprofit caving organization founded by Dickey, Dickey is an instructor with the National Cave Rescue Commission, where he has worked for 10 years. He is also Secretary of the Medical Commission of the European Cave Rescue Association and Executive Director of the Caving Academy.
He began caving in the 1990s and has explored caves in 20 different states in the U.S. and 10 different countries, the website says.
Correction: The headline of this story has been corrected to reflect how long Dickey was trapped.