A fraught situation out of southern Turkey:

A rescue operation is underway to save an American caving instructor who fell ill a week ago while more than 3,400 feet deep in a cave in southern Turkey.

Mark Dickey, 40, fell ill on Aug. 31 while on an exploration of the Morca cave in the Taurus Mountains and has been unable to return to the surface since, according to the volunteer group New Jersey Initial Response Team.

Of course, when I hear "fell ill," I think cold, flu, maybe gastrointestinal issues. Nothing fun but nothing crazy.

But no, this poor guy legitimately fell very ill, reportedly going from "intestinal problems" to "life-threatening bleeding and vomiting" in nothing flat.

Thankfully, emergency rescuers were able to reach him with lifesaving medications; the situation is apparently stable at this point, so much so that Dickey was able to release a video in which he assured friends and loved ones that he was doing better:

I look forward to working with everyone to safely get myself out…I'm not healed on the inside yet, so I'm going to need a lot of help to get out of here.

Dickey is located so deep in the cave that, as he noted, it's "a day to two days" for cavers to get there and back. It "takes experienced cavers about eight hours to reach where he is located in the deep, wet cave," ABC News noted.

Rescuers are reportedly preparing a camp in the cave about two-thirds of the way to Dickey in order to move him there for further transport to the surface; workers are also working to demolish parts of the cave in order to facilitate rescue crews.

"We take care of our own," Dickey said of the international caving community. "And it's really special to be taken care of."

Prayers up for Dickey and the brave crews rescuing him.

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