New York Researcher Mark Dickey Rescued After Spending 9 Days Trapped Over 3,000 Feet Below In Turkish Cave

By NY Post
Posted on 09/11/23 | News Source: NY Post

The American explorer from Westchester County trapped in a Turkish cave for more than a week was rescued early Tuesday morning, officials announced.

Mark Dickey — who fell ill on Sept. 2 more than 3,000 feet below the entrance of the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountain — was carried out on a stretcher and given first aid once rescuers reached the surface, the Speleological Federation of Turkey said in a statement.

“He is fine and is being tended to by emergency medical workers in the encampment above,” the speleological federation said of Dickey, a Croton-on-Hudson resident.

Dickey, who was suffering from stomach bleeding, was too weak to pull himself out of the Morca cave so rescuers across Europe rushed to aid the 40-year-old who is an experienced cave explorer.

“The fact that our son, Mark Dickey, has been moved out of Morca Cave in stable condition is indescribably relieving and fills us with incredible joy,” his parents Debbie and Andy said in a statement.

The statement said he exited the cave at 12:37 a.m. on Tuesday local time.