Featured Image Credit: Family handout
Topics: World News
Gregory Robinson
A dad who suffered the ‘worst death imaginable’ made a fatal mistake that left him stuck upside down in a cave for hours before his untimely death.
Tragedy struck in Nutty Putty Cave in Utah, US when experienced spelunker and medical student John Edward Jones was left stranded upside down for more than 24 hours.
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Jones went on what would be his last adventure on Thanksgiving on 24 November, 2009 when the incident happened.
The 26-year-old ventured inside the cave with his pals and they soon split into two groups, with Jones heading off with his brother Josh to an area dubbed the ‘birth canal’.
Part of the cave was still unmapped and Jones attempted to travel through the wrong entrance he became stuck.
The dad-of-one’s fatal mistake was believing he could fit through the ‘birth canal’ - despite being able to wriggle forward using his hips, fingers and stomach, he soon realised he was stuck.
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Inching forward was Jones’ only option and 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.
Jones’ brother Josh was the first to discover him trapped in the cave and unsuccessfully tried to pull his calves to free him from the space.
Josh had no choice but to leave his brother behind and crawl to the surface to call for help.
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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’.
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 10 years after the tragedy.
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Following his death, the location where his body remained was declared a hazard and was 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.