Nearly 16 years ago, 26-year-old John Edward Jones set out for what should have been a fun caving trip with his brother and friends. Instead, it became one of the most heartbreaking tragedies in modern spelunking history.
Jones, a medical student from Utah, had a passion for exploring tight and twisting underground passages. On 24 November 2009, he and his brother Josh entered Nutty Putty Cave, a popular but challenging spot in the Utah desert known for its narrow tunnels, per the Daily Record.
At some point deep underground, Jones crawled into what he believed was a well-known route called the Birth Canal. It turned out to be an unmapped crevice, barely 10 inches high and 18 inches wide. Before he realised his mistake, he had slid in headfirst and become hopelessly stuck.
Josh attempted to pull him free, but when it was clear they needed professional help, he climbed back to the surface to alert rescuers. What followed was a 27-hour mission involving more than 100 people, working in cramped, dangerous conditions to try to get Jones out alive, Metro detailed.
Being wedged upside-down put intense pressure on his body. Blood pooled in his head, his heart worked overtime, and breathing became harder with each passing hour.
Brandon Kowallis, a fellow caver who joined the rescue, described the heartbreaking moments in a blog post. To boost Jones’ morale, rescuers set up a radio so he could speak with his loved ones. He was able to talk to his parents and his wife, Emily, who reassured him they loved him and were praying for him. “His wife mentioned a feeling of peace, that everything would be OK,” Kowallis recalled.
But the physical toll was becoming visible. Kowallis and another rescuer, Debbie, crawled down to where Jones was trapped and saw him drifting in and out of consciousness. His breathing had turned to a worrying gurgle, and his legs twitched uncontrollably.
Even with ropes, pulleys, and hours of strategising, rescuers could only lift him slightly before his feet hit the ceiling of the narrow passage. There was no safe way to manoeuvre his body into a better position.
Eventually, Jones went limp. He had suffered cardiac arrest and suffocated in the tunnel he could not escape.
The mission to recover his body was deemed too dangerous. Authorities sealed the entrance to that part of Nutty Putty Cave with explosives, turning it into his final resting place.
A memorial now marks the site, honouring the young father who went in for an adventure and never came back.