Mark Dickey Rescued from Turkish Cave After Days Underground

Mark Dickey, an experienced caver and cave rescue expert and trainer, became a patient during a recent cave expedition in Turkey. The Morca Cave is one of the deepest in Europe, going over a thousand meters below the surface. While near the camp deep inside the cave system at approximately one thousand meters of depth, He began experiencing gastrointestinal distress symptoms that were ultimately determined to be an internal GI bleed.

His fiancé, an experienced caver and paramedic, was with the expedition. Jessica Van Ord quickly realized the severity of the situation. Mark could not safely travel out even though he needed serious medical care. Jessica knew they needed to bring the medical care to him. It took her thirty-six hours to climb higher and retrieve medical assistance.

National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC) Homepage

On the call were Dr. Joe Holley, disaster management expert, Becky DePodwin, and meteorologist, Dan DePodwin, along with Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.