“I’m sick.” Those words marked the beginning of a 10-day ordeal for 40-year-old Mark Dickey. Suspended on a rope halfway up a 300-foot vertical face deep within Morca Cave, Dickey felt sudden and severe abdominal pain.
He and fellow researchers were mapping passages in the 4,186-foot deep cave system located in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains. Hailing from Croton-on-Hudson, New York, Dickey had extensive caving and rescue experience, but now he found himself trapped in one of the deepest chasms in the world as he began vomiting blood and fearing he would die.
In a race against the clock, Dickey’s fiancé, Jessica Van Ord, made the arduous ascent to the surface to call for help. When rescuers eventually reached Dickey, they administered IV fluids and blood to stabilize his condition.
The rescue team involved 200 experts, including doctors, paramedics and cavers. Explosives enlarged the narrowest of passages to make room for Dickey and his stretcher. Finally, at 12:37 a.m. on September 12, 2023, Dickey surfaced.
Today, millions of people live lives of desperation, trapped in spiritual darkness, waiting for rescue teams to bring the message of joy in Jesus, salvation and life everlasting. Let’s reach them while time remains.