Man who died one of the most agonising deaths imaginable spent 17 days trapped in an underground cave
Man who died one of the most agonising deaths imaginable spent 17 days trapped in an underground cave
There are many awful things which can happen to a person but when it comes to measuring out just how awful things can get for you it's hard to compare to being trapped in an underground cave for 17 days.
However, that's what happened in 1925 to a man named Floyd Collins, who was a cave explorer that was aiming to find a cave system that would be a great attraction for spelunkers and tourists.
In the early 20th century there was a period of time known as the 'Kentucky cave wars' where competition to find the next great tourist attraction was fierce and Collins had previously found the Great Crystal Cave, though it was a bit too far out to become a big hit among tourists.
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Collins ended up opening up a cave on the property of a farmer who lived near him and this one's location was far more likely to bring in tourists, but on 30 January, 1925 tragedy struck.
The experienced explorer had gone into the cave, which would later be known as Sand Cave, to try and create a better entrance into the tight system of tunnels, some of which were no taller than nine inches.
In some places Collins had been forced to squeeze through on his stomach with only a kerosene lamp to light his way down there in the dark, and on 30 January as it began to run out of fuel and his light started to dim the experienced explorer realised he'd have to get out before he lost all the light.
However, the 37-year-old became stuck in a small passageway on his way out and he accidentally dropped his lantern, causing it to go out.
Robbed of light and sight, Collins accidentally put his foot on an unstable part of the cave and trapped his leg under a heavy rock, leaving him with no way out with only 150 feet between him and the entrance to the cave.
It wasn't until the next day that locals realised Collins was missing and they found him in Sand Cave, leading to a major rescue effort as they attempted to save him.
While people could get into the cave and reach the 37-year-old they couldn't get him out as every possible attempt met with failure.
They tried getting several people to pull him out with rope but that only injured him further and the rock didn't budge, with rescuers deciding it would be better to try and dig the stricken man out.
Any hope of getting Floyd out suffered a serious blow on 4 February as the cave passage collapsed due to melting ice and made it far more difficult for rescuers to reach him.
Thousands of people had come to witness the rescue attempts for Collins and the heat from the fires they lit to keep warm at night may have had something to do with the ice melting.
Eventually they were able to dig another shaft and get back to Collins on 16 February but when they found him he was cold and dead, it was thought that he'd been dead for about three days by then.
It wasn't until 23 April that his body was finally removed from Sand Cave after Floyd's brother Homer and some friends decided they couldn't leave him down there.
Joe Harker