![]() The rope-and-pulley operation was no more, the rescuers had no other viable plans, and John was trapped. Roundy believes that the pulley came loose at its anchor point in the cave wall, which contain a substantial amount of loose clay. But suddenly, and without warning, one of the pulleys failed. Everything was ready, and they pulled as hard as they could. Rescuers tied John with a rope connected to a series of pulleys. The downward angle at which John was trapped was putting great stress on his body because such a position requires the heart to work incredibly hard to continuously pump blood out of the brain (obviously, when the body is right side up, gravity does the work and the heart doesn’t have to shoulder that load). Many of the passages in this cave are this narrow or even narrower.Īnd now, with John trapped inside the cave, time was running out. Jon Jasper/ Explorer Kory Kowallis in the crawl to the aptly named Scout Trap passage in Nutty Putty Cave. The cave had only been reopened for six months in 2009 when John and his family entered. Officials closed Nutty Putty Cave in 2004 soon after the incidents with the Boy Scouts. In one of the cases, rescue crews took 14 hours to free a 16-year-old Scout - who weighed 140 pounds and was 5’7″ tall, making him much smaller than John - using a complex series of pulleys. The two Boy Scouts had become trapped within a week of each other. A Dangerous Caveīack in 2004, two Boy Scouts had nearly lost their lives in separate incidents in the same area of Nutty Putty Cave where John became trapped. Most of the passages were dangerously narrow, even at the entrance, where warning signs had been placed. Shaun Roundy, one of the rescuers on the scene, explained the difficulties facing anyone, even experienced spelunkers, who went into Nutty Putty Cave. The best plan they had was to use a system of pulleys and ropes to try to free John from his perilously tight spot. Over the next 24 hours, more than 100 rescue personnel worked feverishly to free John. “Hi Susie, thanks for coming,” John said, “but I really, really want to get out.” Motola introduced herself to John, even though all she could see of him was a pair of navy and black running shoes. At that point, John had been trapped for three and a half hours. The first rescuer to reach John was a woman named Susie Motola, who arrived at about 12:30 a.m. Getting people, equipment, and supplies down that far took an hour. But even once help came, John was still trapped 400 feet into the cave and 100 feet below the Earth’s surface. “Save me for my wife and kids,” John said.Įventually, Josh scrambled toward the exit of the cave to get help. “Guide us as we work through this,” Josh prayed. His arms were now pinned beneath his chest and he couldn’t move at all.Īll John and Josh, both devout Mormons, could do at this point was pray. But then John slid down into the passage even further, becoming trapped worse than before. Josh tried to pull at his brother’s calves to no avail. John’s brother was the first to find him. He tried to exhale the air in his chest so that he could fit through a space that was barely 10 inches across and 18 inches high, about the size of the opening of a clothes dryer.īut when John inhaled again and his chest puffed back out, he got stuck for good. He didn’t even have room to wriggle back out the way he’d come. John knew he was now just about stuck and had no room to turn around. This is the passage that John Jones thought he had found when he got stuck. Jon Jasper/ Explorer Cami Pulham crawling out of the passage known as the Birth Canal in Nutty Putty Cave. But within minutes, he realized he’d made a grave mistake. He found what he thought was the Birth Canal and inched his way into the narrow passage head first, moving forward using his hips, stomach, and fingers. And at six feet tall and 200 pounds, he wasn’t the little kid he used to be.Ībout an hour into the caving expedition, John decided to find the Nutty Putty Cave formation known as the Birth Canal, a tight passage that spelunkers must crawl through carefully if they dare. ![]() It had been years since John was in any cave. ![]() He had come back home to Utah to spend some relaxing holiday time with his family. He was married, had a one-year-old daughter, and was attending medical school in Virginia. John, 26 at the time, and Josh, 23, along with nine other friends and family members, decided to explore Nutty Putty Cave as a way to connect with each other ahead of the holiday.Īt age 26, John was in the prime of his life. 24, 2009, a few days before Thanksgiving. John Edward Jones entered Nutty Putty Cave at around 8 p.m. Jon Jasper/ Explorer Emily Vinton Maughen at the entrance of Nuty Putty Cave.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |