Rejoicing as a critically ill Mark Dickie reaches the surface after being stranded 3,400 feet underground in Turkey Cave.

Experienced explorer Mark Dickie has emerged from a Turkish cave after a successful three-day rescue operation by teams from across Europe to extract him from one of the deepest caves in the world.

Dickey said it was “amazing to be above ground again,” as he was taken to a medical tent for examination before being taken to hospital after his ordeal, CNN reported.

He thanked the rescue teams and the Turkish government for transporting him to safety, and said that they “saved my life without asking any questions.”

He added: “I remained underground for much longer than I expected due to an unexpected medical problem.”

An international team of cave rescuers successfully extricated Mr Dickie from 3,400 feet (1,036 metres) into the cave to safety at 12.37am on Tuesday local time, after a difficult operation that began on Saturday.

“Mark Dickie was removed from the final exit of the cave at 00:37 and transferred to the UMKE tent. Thus, the cave rescue portion of the operation was successfully completed. We congratulate all who contributed!” Turkish rescuers at X statedthe social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Turkish officials said Deki would be transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Mersin.

“He seems fine at first glance,” Recep Salci, of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), said on Tuesday, according to CNN.

The 40-year-old American set out on an expedition to map one of the world’s deepest cave systems, at Murca Cave in the Taurus Mountains of Mersin Province on September 2.

The Murca Cave system descends through many twists, turns and very tight drops, making it difficult to explore for anyone in good health. The underground equivalent of a cave is like climbing Mount Everest.

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But the trip was abruptly halted after Dickey developed a gastrointestinal bleeding disorder and became trapped at a depth of 1,040 meters (3,400 feet).

His condition quickly worsened, leaving him unable to move and the doctor had to go down to the cave to give him vials of blood to keep him stable.

For several days, rescuers were unsure whether Dickey was strong enough to be rescued on the surface, but his condition began to improve on Wednesday.

Rescue teams from countries across Europe, including Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy and Poland, rushed to help Deki in the remote area of ​​southern Turkey, and 158 rescuers were cave experts.

And so began the arduous rescue operation on Saturday 9 September, as Mr Dickie was slowly and carefully carried on a stretcher through the narrow, dark underground passages.

Mr Dickey’s fiancée and fellow caver, Jessica Van Oord, was with him when he fell ill and stayed with the 40-year-old until paramedics arrived and gave him intravenous fluids and blood.

Eventually, she climbed out and stayed at a base camp near the cave entrance, while working with a team of 150 cavers who traveled to Turkey to help extract Dickey on a stretcher.

Rescuers initially worked to stabilize Mr. Dickie’s condition before he was transported.

By Thursday, his bleeding had stopped and he was able to walk without assistance, according to Cave Rescue Bulgaria.

The mission to rescue Mr Dickie began on Saturday afternoon. Rescue teams set up medical “base camps” at various depths throughout the caves where they can rest and recover.

Rescue teams used explosives to blow up the open parts of the cave to get it out safely.

Aside from small explosives, rescuers also used rock hammers to make room for a stretcher to ensure Dickey’s safety during the ascent.

Denis Akos Nagy, a doctor with the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, said the cave’s route from the surface is a well-known route. Wall Street Journal. He added that the trail is not traveled frequently and is difficult to navigate.

“If you imagine a skyscraper, it’s probably 100 meters high. They’re 1,000 meters down there. That’s like 10 skyscrapers stacked on top of each other,” Nagy said. “It’s so far away, so far away.”

In ideal conditions, it takes a full 15 hours for an experienced cave explorer to reach the surface. But this was not the case with Mr. Dickey.

To address this problem, a team of international experts divided the depths of the cave and assigned it to a specific team to find a solution for that specific area.

Officials from the Turkish Cave Federation announced that they had reached a depth of 100 meters underground on Monday evening, local time. Mr Dickie was reportedly in stable condition at the time.

Expert cave

A New Jersey native who currently resides in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, Mr. Dickey is a highly trained caver, a cave rescuer himself and well-known in the international community of speleologists (cave experts), according to the European Cave Rescue Association. (ICRA).

His caving CV and expert status are endless: Secretary of the ECRA Medical Committee, head trainer of the Caving Academy, a US-based organization that prepares other cavers for exploration and national trainer for the National Cave Rescue Committee.

He also volunteers with the New Jersey First Responders, a non-profit search and rescue team.

Having been involved in numerous cave explorations in karst areas around the world for many years, Mr Dickie has knowledge and skill – the kind of person you want on complex cave explorations such as the Murka mission.

Mr. Dickey was on an expedition to map a 4,186-foot-deep cave system in southern Turkey for the Anatolian Speleology Group.

Pictures from a Facebook page that appears to belong to Mr Dickie show him happily preparing for the mission by checking all the necessary equipment before setting off.

But what Dickey and others couldn’t prepare for was the sudden medical emergency he found himself in during the flight.

On September 2, Mr. Dickey became ill with severe stomach pain that was rapidly worsening. Although there was initial hope that Dickie would be able to get out of the cave on his own, the pain turned into gastrointestinal bleeding and it was clear he needed medical attention quickly.

The Turkish Cave Federation sent a medical team and six blood units in the following days in the hope that Mr. Dickie’s medical condition would be stabilized.

On Thursday, Dickey appeared in a video clip for the first time, which was obtained by the site Associated PressHe thanked the Turkish authorities for their quick response to his medical needs.

“As you can see, I am awake. I am alert, and I am talking, but I am not healed inside yet.”

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but I know that the Turkish government’s quick response to get the medical supplies I needed, in my opinion, saved my life,” Deke said. “I was so close to the edge.”

As crews worked to rescue Mr. Dickey from the cave, fundraising for the effort exceeded $60,000.

“Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the rescue of Mark Dickie from Murca! The last cave rescue of this scale (Resind, 2014) required 700 rescuers over two weeks and cost approximately 960,000 euros (about 1 million dollars).”

“The GoFundMe is currently set at $100,000, and this will be just the beginning of the expenses. The funding will be put to good use on travel, food, gear and supplies that the rescuers need. This is a complex and expensive operation, and your contributions to this effort go a long way in supporting the participants!”