American rescued after 12 days in Turkish cave

Mark Dickey said it was 'amazing to be above ground again'

(Image credit: Mustafa Unal Uysal/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

published 14 September 2023

An American researcher who fell critically ill while mapping a cave in Turkey was rescued this week, thanks to an international operation involving 200 cavers and medics. Mark Dickey, 40, was around 1km under the surface in the Morca Cave – a twisting network of passages in the Taurus Mountains – when he started to experience gastrointestinal bleeding. He was initially treated in situ by a Hungarian doctor, but as his condition worsened, a rescue effort got under way. By the time he was brought out, he'd been in the cave for 12 days. It is "amazing to be above ground again", he said as he surfaced.

Man aged 102 to attempt 17-storey abseil for charity

A 102-year-old former RAF pilot was set this week to abseil 17 storeys down the side of a London hospital, to raise money for charity. Colin Bell, a retired surveyor who flew Mosquito bombers during the War and won the DFC, was due to launch himself off the Royal London Hospital's helipad – one of the highest helipads in Europe. "I may be 102 years old but I want to do my bit," he said. "I'm glad to be doing something that can help – quite frankly, at my age I'm glad to be doing anything!"

Locals in St Ives have raised more than £1m to buy a former hospital and turn it into a health centre. The Edward Hain Memorial Hospital was founded in 1920 by a local shipowner in memory of his son, who'd been killed at Gallipoli in 1915. The NHS took it over in 1948, and for decades, it treated minor injuries and provided beds for convalescing surgical patients. But in 2020, it closed, and the NHS announced plans to sell the building. It will now offer a range of services, including support for people with dementia and Parkinson's.