I stumbled upon some cave exploring video where a guy got stuck and died as they could not get him out in time; think he was there for a few days before dying.
Edit; found [0] ; 28 hours it was.
Cave exploring is my worst nightmare (I am claustrophobic) but actually seeing videos of people enjoying that and saying ‘now I cannot move my arms and I only can wriggle part of a inch forward or backward at a time’ [1] while smiling is just the stuff of nightmares to me (this guy does many narrow cave videos that trigger angst in me).
This played out in the news. The rescue lasted 28 hours, but he would have been stuck a few hours longer. I was horrified by it, but also remember being angry about the whole thing. John Edward Jones was 6' tall, 200lbs. (slightly above average weight), 26yo medical student with a wife and child. iirc, his being left in the cave was his final wish, his family negotiated for it, the local Sheriff's dept. was probably relieved about the idea, weary of spending resources rescuing people in trouble. They left his remains where stuck and sealed the cave. It was a popular cave, attracting thousands of tourists annually, but they made a special case for this one reckless thrill-seeker, likely highly intelligent who had amateur experience caving, but not much skill or common sense.
The one thing that is nearly always done is bringing the victim home, but here they did something so bazaar that I still can't quite get my head around it, his widow and child left with the thought that his final resting place was upside down and contorted. By the time he gave up and made his final wish, I do not think he was in his right mind, with support for this by his family in horror and grief, likely also not thinking clearly. Maybe it is for the best that they closed and sealed the cave, but leaving him in there was questionable and grotesque. I realize the circumstances were incredibly difficult, but when the rescue failed, all involved quickly took the path of least resistance rather than in consideration of how time changes things for the survivors. I don't know how one would come to terms with that; the tragedy seems left unresolved.
It's definitely seems like a highly unusual thing to want to do, I wouldn't consider myself claustrophobic but that video made me sweat and kind of feel short of breathe.
Why people do that, I have no idea...on the other hand, I feel like maybe I'm judging people for doing something they feel compelled to do and that kind of makes my anxiety about it worse.
I mean, I don't understand it, but I guess that doesn't make it wrong.
Edit; found [0] ; 28 hours it was.
Cave exploring is my worst nightmare (I am claustrophobic) but actually seeing videos of people enjoying that and saying ‘now I cannot move my arms and I only can wriggle part of a inch forward or backward at a time’ [1] while smiling is just the stuff of nightmares to me (this guy does many narrow cave videos that trigger angst in me).
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutty_Putty_Cave
[1] https://youtu.be/FAg8EkDiIXk