Fiancée of rescued US caver wants to return to Türkiye to explore anew

By Serkan Avci and Irmak Akcan

MERSIN, Türkiye (AA) – The fiancée of American explorer Mark Dickey, who was rescued Tuesday from a cave in southern Türkiye after falling ill last week, told Anadolu they would be back for an expedition in the same cave.

When asked if she would return to the same cave where Dickey was rescued, Jessica Van Ord told Anadolu: “Of course, I want to continue caving.”

“What happened to Mark is something that could happen anywhere in the world, but just as bad luck that it was 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) underground,” Van Ord added.

Dickey embarked on an exploration Sept. 3 of Morca Cave in the Anamur district of Mersin, where he was rescued at a depth of nearly 1,276 meters (1,396 feet) Tuesday after experiencing internal bleeding.

“So the Morca cave expedition has been going on (for many years) and we joined it last year as well. And we wanted to come back for more so we joined again this year,” she explained.

Türkiye “has a very beautiful and unique landscape and there are many things to discover down there, there are new species, there are colonies of bacteria that can be used for medical purposes,” Van Ord added.

Van Ord is not a geophysicist, but mainly works for technical skills for the expedition so people can “go into the cave, install the ropes, and then make the map of the cave so that you know where the caves goes, document it properly.”

“And I also collect samples for the scientists when needed as well,” she added.

The two joined the expedition in Türkiye at the invitation of a Turkish-American friend, she said, adding: “He wanted our skill sets there.”

“There are a lot of beginners on the expedition honestly, so it's very nice to be able to teach local Turkish people how to enter their own caves and be able to safely explore them further,” she explained.