He was on an expedition to map the cave, which is the country’s third deepest.
Rescuers pulled an American researcher out of a Turkish cave early Tuesday, more than a week after he became seriously ill 1,000 meters (more than 3,000 feet) below its entrance, the Speleological Federation of Turkey said.
Teams from across Europe had rushed to Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to aid Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver who became seriously ill on Sept. 2 with stomach bleeding. He was on an expedition to map the cave, which is the country’s third deepest.
Dickey was t oo frail to climb out himself, so rescuers carried him with the help of a stretcher, making frequent stops at temporary camps set up along the way.
“Mark Dickey is out of the Morca cave,” said a statement by the speleological federation. It said that Dickey was removed from the last exit of the cave at 12:37 a.m. local time Tuesday, or 9:37 p.m. GMT Monday.
“He is fine and is being tended to by emergency medical worker in the encampment above,” the statement said.
Mark’s parents. Debbie and Andy Dickey, thanked the international caving community, doctors and rescuers, and the Turkish government for helping rescue their son.
