Flemish speleologian who was stuck in Cave for 32 hours, tells his story for the first time: « Embarrassing to think that 80 people were needed to free me »
Christopher Peeters, chairman of the covenant of Flemish speleologists, can give a little more explanation in the accident of last Wednesday with the 40-year-old woman in Saint-Sauveur-Camprieu, in the southern French department of Gard. « The lady was pushed out when she wanted to cross a stream. She was dragged by the strong flow. She became lower covered by the cold water, » he says.
For six hours, dozens of rescue workers needed to free the unconscious woman from her plight. Eventually she could be laid on a stretcher and removed from the cave with the help of a pulley. The victim, who was now again conscious, was transferred to a hospital in Montpellier. “Normally she is allowed today (Friday, ed.) back home, « says Peeters, who still points out that a six -hour rescue operation, given the difficult working conditions, is » still so bad « .
Intense pain
The incident evokes memories at the 49-year-old TS, who would rather not testify under his full name for private reasons. On November 4, 2022, he fell off as he was exploring the PN77, a cave with a 2 -kilometer course system near the village of Oldargues, not so far from Montpellier. It took no less than 32 hours before he could be liberated, after a media liberation campaign in which no fewer than eighty rescue workers participated.
Read too. Belgian speleologist freed from French cave after hours of rescue operation
« It was the last day of a week in Speleo and we were with a group of six underground, on more than an hour off the exit, » TS tells his story for the first time after the facts. “We had just started our return when I climbed to a hole at a hole at 2.90 meters and pulled myself up on a piece of rock. But the rock broke off and I fell down. I had intense pain: afterwards it turned out that I had broken my right shoulder blade and four ribs and that my back vertebrae had been damaged in the first seconds of my fall. Move me to a slot, so that I was a little more comfortable. ”
© © PompiersSherault
The fall took place just after noon after noon, after which the long wait could begin. « The first four to five hours you know that you should not expect much help, » TS said, « It took some of my team members to go outside and switch on the emergency services. They still have to come on the spot and descend the cave. Another group member had stayed with me and put her legs under my back in the meantime.
“Everyone has remained calm. Panic does not help in such a situation. It was not supplied. I also quickly received satellite blankets of the rest, so that I would not cool down”
There was no panic in the cave, although the long wait did test the nerves of those involved. « I had to endure huge pains, so I stopped breathing a few times. The others thought I was dying. I was also afraid of a blow lung or to tear a lung, » says the now 49-year-old man. « But everyone has remained calm. Panic does not help in such a situation. There was no supplied. I also quickly received satellite blankets of the rest, so that I would not cool down, because in such a cave it is only 14 degrees. »
Morphine
The rescue workers finally arrived on the spot at eight in the evening. « A care provider stayed with me, all other people present were sent away according to the procedure. He injected me morphine – the pain was gone immediately. » After another two hours of waiting, TS was put into a so -called nest, a type of stretcher specially designed for narrow spaces. « At times I was ‘gone’ from the anesthesia, sometimes I was clear. I still remember how the rescue workers apologized because they had to put me tired and wet, while they were dragging me for eight hours at that time. Chapeau for what they did, the 1.94 meter large ts on the road was to be a Dynamite and a Scrapyard.
© © PompiersSherault
The unfortunate Fleming reached a room in the cave where « a mass of people » stood. French Pompiers had set up a mobile hospital and the victim received new anesthesia and antibiotics. « I would have to wait until 6 pm. Then they let me descend a slope with pulleys and hoists to lift me up a while later eight meters towards exit. I don’t remember anything about that last passage, I started to hallucinate all medication. » In the meantime, the fire brigade had cut down trees so that a helicopter could land. The stretcher was tied to the helicopter just before 20 hours, after which TS was flown to the hospital in Montpellier.
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Shame
« There was noticeable that I had nothing except the fractures, and after a short observation I was allowed to leave the hospital. I was incredibly lucky, » TS also mentally the man did not have anything left from his accident. « Two months later, in January, I went underground again. And a year after the facts I returned to the same cave, » he says.
« I realize that I could have been heavily disabled. Or much worse: that a rescue worker could have been injured »
Yet the man still feels shame when he looks back on the entire episode. « Of course I know that it was a stupid accident, but it is embarrassing that there has been so huge number of people to get me out of that cave. I realize that I could have been heavily disabled. Or even worse: that a rescue worker could have been injured. »
But, he still emphasizes: “Speleology is not just a hobby, it has a social and scientific added value. What we see and register is of great importance for the environment, we also do research in regions where there is very little drinking water. Moreover, I was the last Belgian involved in a speleology accident for more than two years. So it was not yet an incident five years ago. Something happens, unfortunately a large -scale rescue campaign is needed. «
