Credit: Family Handout
Trainee Doctor Suffered ‘Worst Death Imaginable’ After Devastating Decision
A tribute has been made to a trainee doctor who died in what has been dubbed the ‘worst death imaginable’ more than 15 years ago.
When it comes to death, each person has their own fears and their own preferences about how they’d like to go, whether you’re a thrill seeker or like to stick to the more mundane pleasures in life.
John Edward Jones passed away back in 2009, and while he was doing something he loved when a poor decision led to him ultimately losing his life, the way in which he died left people all over the world horrified.
At the time of his death, Jones was a 26-year-old medical student, who spent much of his spare time caving in underground systems with his younger brother Josh and their other relatives.
Caving, which is widely considered to be a dangerous very dangerous sport, involves exploring cave systems, often crawling and climbing through narrow passages.
There are a number huge risks involved with caving, including falling, getting lost, becoming trapped and spaces getting flooded.
A family caving experience turned to disaster
In Jones’ case, he was exploring the famed Nutty Putty Cave, approximately 55 miles from Salt Lake City in Utah with his family, just days before they were due to celebrate Thanksgiving together.
The adventure took a dark turn when the family were exploring an area of the cave which is known as the ‘birth canal’. This name feels all the more disturbing after what happened to the keen caver over the following hours.
The trainee doctor had traveled into a confined passageway which he believed had a turning point at the end, however one wrong decision led to the beginning of the end of his life when he took a wrong turn.
Because this particular part of the cave had not previously been mapped out, Jones’, who stood at 6 feet tall, quickly found himself unable to manoeuvre out of the passage, rendering him completely stuck and upside down in the cave.
The 26-year-old used all the tricks he knew in an attempt to free himself but it was no good, and he was left trapped in the L-shaped tunnel just 400 feet away from the cave’s entrance.
The tunnel is reported to have measured just 10 inches by 18 inches, and though he was highly experienced in caving, every breath left him more and more stuck in the incredibly tight space, all the while hanging upside down.
A huge rescue mission underway
After his brothers failed to free him, a rescue mission was launched to save Jones, with more than 100 people deployed to help try and get the medical student out of the cave.
Tragically, 27 hours into the unsuccessful mission, Jones suffered a cardiac arrest and died on November 25, 2009.
Since then, the cave has been sealed off to prevent anyone else from falling to the same fate, while also marking respect for the late caver who lost his life all those years ago.
Emotional footage captured by a couple of YouTubers, who share content about rock crawling, previously revealed that an emotional tribute had been erected on the side of the cave in the form of a memorial for Jones.
The content creators, who post from under the moniker Legacy Crawlers, shared a clip showing what used to be the opening of the cave, which is now home to a plaque featuring Jones’ picture, celebrating his life and acknowledging his devastating death.
Several years after he died, Jones’ wife Emily spoke to Deseret News, telling the publication in 2016 that she believes her husband is still alive in some capacity, though she means in the afterlife, not in the cave where he passed away.
“I can say that I know for sure, without a doubt, I know there is life after death. I know John is still alive,” she said.
“I know because I’ve been able to talk to him since he died, and I’ve had several experiences where the veil has been thin, and I’ve had these sacred moments where I don’t understand everything and my faith is not perfect, but I know he’s out there, and I know there’s life after death.”
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