Race To Save NJ Scientist Trapped In Turkish Cave After Getting Sick

NEW JERSEY — A caving instructor and expert is trapped deep in a cave in southern Turkey after falling ill with "life-threatening" gastrointestinal bleeding and vomiting, said the New Jersey-based response team he leads.

Now, a multi-national rescue effort is underway to safely bring Mark Dickey more than 3,000 feet back to the surface. One of the people going down to rescue him is a Union County resident and member of the New Jersey Initial Response Team, where Dickey serves as chief.

Dickey was on an expedition to explore the Morca Cave on Aug. 31 when he "suddenly became ill" and his conditions rapidly worsened, according to the NJ-IRT.

The 40-year-old is currently 1,040 meters (3,412 feet) under the ground in a complex cave system, said the NJ-IRT. The expansive cave, located in the Taurus Mountain belt, is the third-deepest in the country.

"He was unable to get out under his own power and only the most experienced of cavers are capable of reaching him to render aid," said the NJ-IRT on Wednesday. "The Morca cave is very deep, wet and cold and experienced cavers who know the cave take eight hours to reach the location where Mark lies."

The cave is about between 39-43 degrees Fahrenheit, the NJ-IRT added.

Doctors were able to reach Dickey on Tuesday with fresh blood and fluids, but rescuers and cave experts say will take a days-long effort to bring him out safely.

A GoFundMe to help defray the cost of the rescue has raised more than $47,000 as of Thursday at 2:30 p.m. The fundraiser is being organized on behalf of the National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC).

Dickey's condition has improved Thursday, "and may be able to help more in his rescue than was thought yesterday," said the NCRC in an update. "This could substantially reduce the amount of time needed to get him out of the cave."

Dickey, who residents in New York's Hudson Valley, is an experienced caver and cave scientist (or speleologist). He is also a national instructor at the NCRC, according to his Facebook page.

The NJ-IRT, a volunteer search and rescue organization based in Sussex County, said Dickey was leading an expedition into Morca (pronounced "Morja) with a group of other experienced American cavers.

He will have had someone with him at all times to monitor his condition and keep him company, said Carl Heitmeyer, who is serving as public information officer for the NJ-IRT.

Heitmeyer told Patch that NJ-IRT member Kevin Mulligan, of Clark, quickly arranged a flight to Turkey so he could help the rescue expedition. Mulligan is expected to begin the journey down to Dickey — which takes about 15 hours, not counting any time to rest — on Thursday, said Heitmeyer.

Several camps have been established within the caves, and a phone line to run communication to the surface has reached the depth of Dickey's location, said the NCRC.

It would take 5-7 hours of "hard caving" to go from Dickey's location to the first camp, the NJ-IRT said.

"I compare it to Everest," Heitmeyer said, speaking of the physical and mental challenges required to explore and map caves at this level.

"There's twists and turns and squeezes," he said. "There's climbs both up and down. And then there's the rope work, where you're hanging on, climbing up. And then there's water coming in...some of the times when you're on rope, doing all that very technical stuff, you're blinking because of the rain."

The Turkish military has stepped in to coordinate as rescuers from Turkey, Europe, and the United States are responding to assist, the NJ-IRT added.

“The operation is logistically and technically one of the largest cave rescues in the world,” said the Turkish Caving Federation, as quoted by NBC News.