Rescuers race to save American Mark Dickey from Turkish cave

An international rescue team is racing against the clock to save an ailing US scientist trapped 3,280 feet underground in Turkey’s third deepest cave.

Speleologist Mark Dickey, 40, became ill from gastrointestinal bleeding Saturday while exploring the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains as part of an international expedition, according to the European Cave Rescue Association.

Because of his condition, Dickey has been unable to climb out of the cavern on his own, the association said on its website, describing Dickey as “a highly trained caver and a cave rescuer himself.”

The Speleological Federation of Turkey reported Wednesday Dickey’s bleeding had stopped — and that he’s able to walk with assistance — but will likely need to be on a stretcher to be moved out of the cave system.

“The operation is logistically and technically one of the largest cave rescues in the world, involving 150 rescuers,” the caving federation said in a statement.

A team of doctors and paramedics is at the scene to provide medical help.

Dickey, a veteran instructor with the National Cave Rescue Commission, was co-leading an expedition to find and map a new passage in the 4,186-feet-deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association when he fell ill at a depth of around 3,674 feet before being moved to the group’s base camp.

It could take anywhere from several days to three weeks to safely hoist Dickey out of his current location, depending on the situation, said Yusuf Ogrenecek, with the caving federation.  

Ogrenecek said Dickey’s condition continues to improve and that he’s in “good spirits,” with his fiancée and fellow caver, Jessica, at his side.

His parents, Andrew and Deborah Ann Dickey, released a statement thanking rescuers for their life-saving efforts.

“Mark is strong, but he needed his fellow cavers, including, of course, the doctors, to allow a devastatingly scary situation to turn positive,” the parents said. “Our prayers are being answered and we cannot express how much that means, and will always mean, to us.”

Rescuers from Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Team will be flying to Turkey Thursday night.

A total of around 50 rescuers will be at the mouth of the cave early Friday to participate in the operation helmed by Turkish authorities.

Marton Kovacs, of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, said the cave is now being prepared for Dickey’s extraction. Narrow passages are being widened to accommodate a stretcher, and the danger of falling rocks is also being mitigated.

The rescue team, with participants from Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia and Poland, hope the extraction can begin as early as Saturday or Sunday.

Kovacs said lifting Dickey will likely take days, and that several rest stops are being prepared inside the cave system.

The cave has been divided into several sections, with each country’s rescue team being responsible for one section.

The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service was the first to arrive at Dickey’s location and provided emergency blood transfusions.

The operation to save Dickey will be a challenging one given his condition and the need to keep him medically fit for the journey through the treacherous cave system, warned Jerzy Siodlak, the head of Poland’s mountain rescue service.

With Post wires