Before he had the ‘worst death imaginable’, a dad made a fatal mistake which left him stuck upside down in a cave.
Back in 2009, on 24 November, experienced spelunker (that’s someone who explores and studies caves) John Edward Jones met his tragic fate at the Nutty Putty Caves in Utah, US.
The 26-year-old ventured inside with his mates and split into two groups, as he was joined by his brother Josh.
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However, when he entered an area dubbed the ‘birth canal’, he became stuck.
As this part of Nutty Putty was still unmapped and Jones attempted to get himself through the wrong entrance, he ended up wedged in there for 24 hours.
And his simple, yet fatal, mistake was thinking he could fit through the birth canal in the first place.
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The dad-of-one managed to wriggle himself forward using his hips, finger and stomach but soon realised he was stuck.
Things quickly got worse, as his only option was to inch forward, and in order to do so, he exhaled the air from his lungs so he could manoeuvre through the 'L-shaped pinpoint', which was only 10 inches across and reached a height of 18 inches.
Unfortunately, each time Jones breathed, and his chest expanded, it further wedged him inside the tight space with no chance of escape.
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Josh was the first to discover him trapped in the cave and unsuccessfully tried to pull his calves to free him from the space. He had no choice but to leave his brother behind and crawl to the surface to call for help.
Jones slid further down and remained trapped with his arms pinned underneath his chest. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office arrived with rescuers on hand to attempt to free Jones.
"It's very narrow, very awkward, and it's difficult to get rescuers down there," rescuer Shawn Roundy informed the media, adding that Jones was located in ‘absolutely the worst spot in the cave’.
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Despite enlisting the help of power tools and a pulley system, the attempts to rescue Jones failed and he tragically died in the cave, where his body still remains more than a decade after the tragedy.
Following his death, the location where his body sat was declared a hazard and filled in with concrete.
He was trapped upside for more than 24 hours before the pressure and stress on his body led to him struggling to breathe before becoming unresponsive.
A film based on the story of Jones and the attempts to rescue him called The Last Descent was released in 2016 starring Chadwick Hopson Jones as John, alongside Jacob Omer as Josh.
Featured Image Credit: The Jones family handout
Jess Battison