Here are the final words of a man who suffered the ‘worse death imaginable’ in Utah’s Nutty Putty Cave in 2009.
Spelunker John Edward Jones tragically ventured inside the cave with his brother Josh to an area dubbed the ‘birth canal’.
The 26-year-old medical student – who was with three others – went off with Josh to witness a tight passageway with a turnaround at the end.
But because part of the cave was still unmapped, Jones went through the wrong entrance.
His failed attempt at getting through the ‘birth canal’ meant he was stuck in a horrific upside down position.
The ‘L-shaped pinpoint’ was just 10 inches across and 18 inches high. And every time his chest would expand from breathing, it would further wedge him in.
Josh was forced to leave him behind and crawl to the surface to call for help. Susie Motola joined up with the rescue team to try and help save John
John Edward Jones died in Utah’s Nutty Putty Cave in 2009 (Family Handout)
He told her in the cave: “Hi Susie, thanks for coming but I really, really want to get out.”
John then devastatingly said: “I’m going to die right here. I’m not going to come out of here, am I?”
Rescuers initially tried to pull him out of the cave via a pulley rope system, which was almost successful, however, it then failed and plunged John deeper back into the hole.
The explorer was pronounced dead after suffering a cardiac arrest, and Nutty Putty Cave was sealed off with John’s body inside.
John’s wife, Emily Jones Sanchez, went on to give birth to their second child and later remarried to Donovan Sanchez.
The Last Descent, a biographical film about the tragedy, was released in 2016.
