An attempted rescuer of someone who died in one of the worst possible ways spoke out about the last moments of the man, who became stuck in the infamous Nutty Putty Cave in Utah.
Brandon Kowallis was the last man to see medical student and amateur caver John Jones alive before he became stuck in a narrow cave passage for over 24 hours before dying.
Nutty Putty Cave is the stuff of extremely grim legend
26-year-old John Jones was an experienced caver and explorer as well as being a medical student, and loved nothing more than scrambling around underground.
However, he met a grisly end when he tried to get into a small passage in the notorious Nutty Putty Cave and became stuck fast upside down.
Despite the efforts of a large rescue team to save his life, he eventually died after a long and horrifying time spent trapped in the dark.
It’s ranked up there with the worst deaths imaginable, and for good reason.
The incident in 2009 continues to draw attention because of the horrific nature of the tale, and now one of the rescuers who tried to save Jones has given their side of events.
Brandon Kowallis was right there when John was stuck in the part of the cave nicknamed the ‘birth canal’ because of the tight squeeze required to pass through.
By the time the team reached him on November 15 2009, Jones had already been stuck for several hours and was deteriorating ‘rapidly’.
Speaking of his own experiences in a blog post, Kowallis - a personal friend of John - said: "He was in and out of consciousness and had started talking about seeing angels and demons around him."
Brandon was tasked with heading down the perilous passage to assess Jones’ condition, along with another rescuer.
What he found still haunts him, as he heard the gurgling noises of fluid accumulating on his lungs and saw his legs twitching.
Kowallis said: "It looked like he could only be lifted another foot or two in his current position because of where the webbing was anchored around his knees.
“After a foot or two his feet would hit the ceiling.
“And then once he reached the ceiling, there was no way to tilt him to a horizontal position.”
Eventually, it became clear that the rescue mission wasn’t going to be a success.
The rescue mission had to be abandoned
After considering using a jackhammer, and attempting many ways to extricate Jones, it became clear that a successful rescue could take ‘three to seven days’.
Needless to say, they didn’t have that kind of time.
Towards the end, Jones’ family had the chance to radio down to him. and tell him of their love and exchange some final words.
Brandon recounted hearing their prayers and John’s father blessing his son.
Despite tireless work from the team, he was declared dead through cardiac arrest and suffocation at around midnight.
He left behind a wife and daughter, as well as another on the way.
That newborn son was named for his father, John.