_550w.jpg "john james nutty putty cave")
We were able to hold his hand at some point.” “It’s a really tight spot, but we’ve been able to get around him. “It’s very narrow, very awkward, and it’s difficult to get rescuers down there,” Roundy said. Shawn Roundy, a rescuer with Utah County Sheriff’s Office, said they had difficulty reaching John, as he was stuck in “absolutely the worst spot in the cave.” My legs are killing me.” But he still had a smile on his face. He looked tired, dirty, his eyes were red, otherwise he seemed to be doing okay. The ceiling hung so low, there was no way to just pull him up and out.Īfter the third pull and about 8-hours of John being nearly upside down, he was finally high enough that the rescuers were finally able to make eye contact with him. He was trapped, nearly upside down and only his feet were visible to the rescuers. Unfortunately the position of John’s body made things all the more difficult. They quickly brainstormed multiple plans, from lubing the walls of the cave to using rescue rope to pull him out. Over the next few hours more than 100 rescue personnel arrived, ready to help. “Hi Susie, thanks for coming,” John said, “but I really, really want to get out.”
She arrived at approximately 12:30am – John had been trapped for about 3.5 hours. The first rescue person to arrive was a volunteer named Susie Motola. It had reopened just six months before John Jones had entered the cave. After those rescues in 2004, the Nutty Putty Cave was closed to the public.
#JOHN JAMES NUTTY PUTTY CAVE FREE#
It took 14 hours to free him from the tunnel. In one of those instances, a 16-year-old boy, weighing 140 pounds and standing at 5’7” tall, was rescued using a complex pulley system. Many of the passages in this cave are this narrow or even narrower.
Or somewhere along the tunnel to the Birth Canal, they took a turn into the Scout Eater, named for the incidents where two boy scouts, within a week of each other, got trapped, and thankfully, rescued.Įxplorer Kory Kowallis in the crawl to the aptly named Scout Trap passage in Nutty Putty Cave. Sources are unclear as to the exact path they had taken, they could have missed the Birth Canal completely and entered a tunnel just next to it called Ed’s Push. What they didn’t know was that they had taken a wrong turn. He was able to move him mere inches, and when he let go, John slid right back down.Īfter a quick prayer, Josh retreated from the tunnel, knowing he needed to get help. He tried pulling John back, grasping his calves and ankles, but to no avail. Josh was behind him and quickly realized what had happened. With one arm beneath him and one pressed backward, only his ankles and feet were free. Unable to turn back now, he exhaled the air in his chest, hoping to make himself smaller, but when he inhaled again, he was stuck. Not enough space for a man of John’s size. Head down, he reached an area that was just barely 10 inches wide and 18 inches high. Feeling confident that the tunnel would get wider at the bottom, he pressed on and that’s when everything went wrong. He inched forward little by little until reaching a drop-off, or sharp downward turn. At six feet tall, 200 pounds, he squeezed and wriggled for some time, but never came upon a larger room. Living in Virginia, he was studying to become a pediatric cardiologist.Įxplorer Cami Pulham crawling out of the passage known as the Birth Canal in Nutty Putty Cave © Jon Jasper/ In November 2009, he was married with a daughter and a baby on the way. He was a devout Christian known for his sense of humor, excellent work ethic, and his love for family. John was one of seven children five boys and two girls. Perhaps you’ve heard of one, named “The Birth Canal”? It is one of several famous caves known for its narrow and slippery passageways. The Nutty Putty Cave, located in Utah, is a hydrothermal cave, with a total surveyed length and depth of 1355 and 145 feet, respectively. As an adult, despite having grown up, the love was still there, so it was no surprise when John and his brother Josh decided to explore the Nutty Putty Cave. For John Jones and his family, caving and spelunking was a cherished part of childhood. The art of exploring caves on an increasingly difficult level adds to the adrenaline, easily making it an addictive form of pleasure. For those who love to explore, spelunking is a favorite activity.
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