• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Harrowing footage shows rescue effort of man just before he suffered 'worst death imaginable'

Home> Community

Published 12:42 30 Sep 2023 GMT+1

Harrowing footage shows rescue effort of man just before he suffered 'worst death imaginable'

More than 100 rescue workers tried to save John Edward Jones after he got trapped in Utah

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

Footage filmed above a cave system in Utah shows the unsuccessful rescue efforts that went into trying to save a father who got stuck upside down in one of its passages.

John Edward Jones, 26, had gone with his family in 2009 to explore Nutty Putty Cave, located about 55 miles from Salt Lake City, when he suddenly found himself wedged between the rocks.

The dad-of-one, who was six feet tall and around 14 stone (200 pounds), had been looking to explore a passage in the cave known as the 'Birth Canal', which explorers were forced to crawl through.

Thinking he'd found the passage, John crawled inside head first. By the time he realised it was the wrong passage, John was already stuck.

Advert

His brother, Josh, was the first to find him and attempt to pull him out, but he had no luck. He went to get help, and rescuers began an hours-long operation in an attempt to free John from the tight passage.

Reporter Fields Moseley was among those on the scene, and described how rescuers had managed to pull John into a more comfortable position, but there was still 16 feet of passage separating him from 'freedom'.

Rescuers used pulley systems to try and save John.
KUTV News

The initial efforts to move John turned disastrous when one of the pulleys failed and he slid back further into the hole.

"It's still far from being a recovery; it's a rescue," Sergeant Tom Hodgson, from the Utah County Sheriff's Office, said. "But the longer it goes, obviously, the more concern there is."

Advert

Moseley pointed out that things only became harder as John became more and more tired in the passage, as he would be less able to help rescuers with their mission.

"They need him to put some effort into it and maybe get himself out, but he is exhausted," Moseley said. "They're very worried about him."

John was just 26 when he died.
The Jones Family handout

The space around John measured just 10 inches by 18 inches, meaning he had no room to turn around, and couldn't wiggle out backwards.

Tragically, rescuer workers weren't able to get John out of the cave, and shortly before midnight on 25 November, 2009, he was pronounced dead due to cardiac arrest in what some have described as the 'worst death imaginable'.

Advert

Rescuers were unable to get to John's body even after he died, so a week after he passed away officials sealed off the cave with his body still inside.

The cave remains closed out of fear that other people may become trapped in the passages.

Featured Image Credit: The Jones Family handout/CBS

Topics: US News, YouTube, Health, Travel

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

8 hours ago
2 days ago
3 days ago
4 days ago
  • 8 hours ago

    Japanese Baba Vanga's chilling prediction that sparked tourist cancellations could have just come true two days early

    The artist had a disastrous vision

    Community
  • 2 days ago

    Mother who lives with her new husband and ex to save money reveals how she makes bizarre situation work

    Her ex-husband is still around as it's an expensive world

    Community
  • 3 days ago

    Why seeing a pink flamingo on cruise could mean someone is a swinger

    The more you know

    Community
  • 4 days ago

    Relationship expert reveals what you should never say to a potential partner if you want them to like you

    Apparently it makes you come across as rude

    Community
  • Sobering simulation shows what happened to man who suffered 'worst death imaginable' in Nutty Putty cave
  • Terrifying simulation shows what happened to explorer who suffered ‘worst death imaginable’ inside Nutty Putty cave
  • Two men visit site where man suffered 'worst death imaginable' and find poignant tribute
  • Heartbreaking phone call between teenage Disneyland worker and parents before she suffered one of the worst deaths imaginable