MORCO, TURKEY: Mark Dickey, 40, a New Jersey native trapped in Morca Cave in Turkey, the country's third largest cave, since Saturday, September, 2, is believed to be a hardened caver and a cave rescuer with over 20 years of experience.
The sick caver is a well-known person in the international speleological community and is highly qualified.
He is also an instructor for the National Cave Rescue Commission USA, as per GoFundMe. He is also the secretary of the ECRA medical committee.
How did Mark Dickey get stuck in the cave?
Mark was co-leading a team to map a new passage from the tunnel when he began to experience gastrointestinal bleeding.
Even though the bleeding had stopped, he was unable to move or walk unsupported.
The rescuers have delivered six units of blood to Dickey and his condition was said to be stable by Thursday, BBC reported.
His friends say he has stopped vomiting and eaten a little first time in days.
He will need a stretcher to get out of the cave, The Turkish Caving Federation involved in the rescue operation said in a statement.
How are the rescues trying to get Mark Dickey out of Turkey's third-largest cave?
About 150 workers are said to be involved in the rescue operation which the federation has termed "complex."
Dickey is stuck at a depth of 1,120m (3,675ft).
"The operation is logistically and technically one of the largest cave rescues in the world," the federation said in a statement.
"A long and challenging rescue operation is initiated to carry Mark out on a stretcher," the statement added.
More than 150 Turkish and international rescue experts are leading the effort to save him.
The report quoting Dickey's friend and fellow caving enthusiast Carl Heitmeyer said the operation was joined by the Turkish military on Thursday who expect to get him out by Friday.
Rescuers from several other countries, including Croatia and Hungary, have also flown to Turkey to join the rescue efforts.
Was Mark Dickey alone in the Morca Cave?
Mark's fiancee Jessica Van Ord, who is also part of the expedition, remained with Dickey.
She began climbing out of the cave when his condition improved and is expected to surface late Thursday.
Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, which has been cooperating with the operation, said that Dickey had been co-leading the trip to the Morca Cave in a remote section of southern Turkey since the end of August.
How risky is the rescue operation in Morca Cave?
Heitmeyer cautioned that rescuing Dickey from the cave would be exceedingly difficult.
"This rescue will require many rigging teams, passage modification teams [to allow the stretcher to pass through] and also round-the-clock medical care," he told BBC.
The Turkish military has managed to establish communication with Dickey and has also set a base at 700m from the cave entrance.
Heitmeyer told the publication it will take an expert caver, who knows the cave very well, about eight hours to reach Dickey.
Those who are not familiar can take up to 15 hours. Notably, the wet conditions and low temperatures of 4C-5C have made the rescue operation more complex.
