Turkey Cave Rescue: Rescue teams could begin moving Americans trapped 3,400 feet inside Turkey Cave within hours

A fundraiser for the teams rescuing Mark Dickie from a cave in Turkey has raised $50,000.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help fund the complex rescue mission that will likely take days.

“This fundraiser was started on behalf of the National Cave Rescue Committee (for which Mark is also a coach) and will be used to distribute to rescue teams to cover the logistical costs of helping him get out of the cave,” the description reads. .

So far, the fundraiser has met half of its $100,000 goal.

Six rescue teams from different countries, as well as the European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA), are working together to try to rescue American Mark Dickie from Murca Cave in Turkey.

At 3,400 feet, it would be extremely difficult to get Mr. Dickey safely out of the cave.

To make it easier, ECRA will divide seven parts of the cave between the six teams. Each time solutions will be found to perform the rescue operation over a specific number of feet.

The Bulgarian cave rescue team will first find a way to raise Mr. Dickey from 3,412 feet (where he is now) to 2,953 feet.

From there, a Croatian rescue team would take Mr. Dickie to an altitude of 2,345 feet.

The Italian rescue team will then bring Mr. Dickie to an altitude of 1,640 feet.

The Polish rescue team will then take over the task of helping Mr. Dickie reach 1,181 feet.

Then he will help the Hungarian team reach an altitude of 590 feet.

Finally, the Turkish team will help bring Mr. Deki out of the cave and onto the surface so he can access appropriate medical care.

Andrew and Deborah Ann Dickey, parents of scientist Mark Dickey, issued a statement thanking rescuers for their efforts to save his life.

“Mark is strong, but he needed his cave mates, including the doctors of course, to allow a scary, devastating situation to turn positive,” Dickie’s parents said.

“Our prayers are being answered and we cannot express how much this means to us and will always mean so much.”

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.

For five days, expert cave explorer Mark Dickey was trapped 3,400 feet below the surface of the earth in a cave in the Taurus Mountain region of Turkey.

Mr Dickey, 40, is an experienced caver and has embarked on an exploratory mission to map one of the world’s deepest caves – the Murca cave system in southern Turkey.

But the trip was abruptly halted after Mr Dickie suffered a gastrointestinal bleed.

Now, a rescue team of more than 150 individuals from several international organizations have joined forces to try to recover Mr. Dickie, who cannot leave the cave due to a medical emergency.

As of Thursday, officials with the Turkish Cave Federation said Mr. Deki’s condition had improved but he would need a stretcher, making the rescue mission more complex.

The Speleology Society says Murca Cave is the 74th deepest cave in the world and the third deepest in Turkey – here’s everything you need to know about speleology.

Mark Dickey remains 3,600 feet underground, but efforts to bring him to the surface are scheduled to begin on Saturday, a director at Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) told CNN on Friday.

Diki fell ill last weekend with suspected gastrointestinal bleeding while exploring the Murca Crater in the Murca Valley, near Anamur in southern Turkey.

In an update from the European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA), officials said doctors were working to improve Mark Dickie’s health as much as possible before their rescue mission.

“Doctors are working to improve the patient’s health (sic) so that the difficult transfer to the surface can begin soon without further complications,” they wrote in a press release.

Officials said they believe Dickey will need to use a stretcher for some rescue missions, but as his condition improves the complications will decrease.

In a message from Mark Dickie, the cave expert said a rescue mission like the one he will embark on is an opportunity to show the world how international teams can work together.

“As you can see I’m awake, I’m alert, and I’m talking. But I haven’t recovered on the inside yet, so I’m going to need a lot of help to get out of here,” Dickey said in a video circulated on Thursday.

Despite the scary situation, Dickie remained optimistic and offered some positive thoughts: “This is often, in the world of caves, a great opportunity to show how well the international world works together.”