The Most Painful Cave Deaths of All Time

wana Panapa caves on January 29th 2017 32-year-old Gregory Wilhelm was vacationing in Maui Hawaii with three friends when a fun day at Wana Panapa State Park turned into a nightmare while visiting the park the group discovered the entrance to the Wana Panapa caves the four of them two men and two women decided to take a swim in the well-lit pool near the cave entrance just as many tourists had done before while the women stayed by the pool Gregory eager to explore convinced his male friends to join him inside the cave gregory decided to improvise and used his phone as a flashlight he put it inside a ziplockc bag to avoid it getting wet if they had been planning to do cave exploration to begin with they probably would have brought a proper flashlight the women decided to wait at the swimming pool at the cave entrance gregory and one friend ventured into the darkness after only a few feet they reached an area where the water rose to their waists and encountered a boulder blocking the way beneath the boulder was a deep pool a popular spot for divers but without proper equipment they agreed to do just a quick dive of about a minute before resurfacing since Gregory was the only one with a working light his friend followed him underwater soon they discovered that the depth was much greater than expected curiosity drove Gregory to explore further into a narrow passage but as the water level began to rise his friend grew scared and swam back to the surface in total darkness without telling Gregory leaving him behind eventually though Gregory needed air and tried to turn back only to find himself surrounded by darkness panicked he searched for an exit and managed to find a small pocket of air but he soon realized how unpredictable the cave was the water level shifted dramatically with time and strong currents and violent waves were common forced to make a split-second decision before running out of air he pressed on further into the cave meanwhile Gregory's friend miraculously resurfaced at the spot where they had originally dived but there was no sign of Gregory worried the two women decided to enter the cave and inside they found Gregory's friend in a state of panic and disorientation realizing that Gregory's life was in danger his male friend re-entered the cave in total darkness he instructed both of the women to scream so he could use the sound as a guide to help him find his way back after making a third dive he spotted a tiny light in the distance that grew brighter as he approached it turned out to be the flashlight on Gregory's phone however when he picked it up Gregory was nowhere to be seen he returned to his friends and together they rushed out of the cave to call the Hana Fire Department which immediately contacted rescue crews later reports indicated that Gregory had lost his sense of direction in a very tight passage each failed attempt to retrace his steps only made him more panicked eventually he took a wrong turn and by the time he tried to find his way back it was too late he drowned in total darkness when rescuers finally arrived they found Gregory's body 75 ft deep in the cave the Goss Canyon tragedy on September 17th 2000 brothers Michael and Paul Hayden decided to explore an abandoned well cave in Goss Canyon in Lacresenta Montrose California a cave they had known well from childhood visits with their four other siblings this particular cave featured dry ledges and holes as well as a water pool approximately 100 ft deep situated between water shafts above they entered the cave through a small 3x4 ft entrance that led to a horizontal passage about 50 ft long paul a master sergeant and elite scuba diver with the Air Force Pares Rescue Force took the lead he was equipped with scuba gear that provided him with two hours of air and had a GoPro strapped to his head to serve as a light meanwhile Michael stayed near the pool area to monitor his brother they used a rope tether system attached to a large boulder in the main cave michael would tug the rope to check on Paul's status and Paul would respond with similar tugs to indicate he was okay for the first 20 minutes their communication system worked flawlessly then when Michael pulled the rope twice expecting a response he received none pulling again he found the rope was tight and immobile initially thinking Paul was stuck Michael pulled as hard as he could when nothing changed he immediately left the cave to seek help from the local fire department knowing that Paul had only 90 minutes of air remaining fortunately the local fire department responded immediately along with the LA Sheriff's Office and the LA Fire Department and quickly traveled to the cave entrance to begin the rescue when Paul's GoPro was found its footage was analyzed and it revealed the exact moment he removed his regulator to breathe air from an air pocket in an abandoned water shaft the air in these pockets whether formed in abandoned water shafts or naturally within the cave did not circulate and was contaminated by decay gases from the surrounding soil rock and organic material as well as by gases released through water erosion of stones this leads to a dangerous increase in carbon dioxide concentration although Paul was a scuba diver he was not a certified cave diver he knew the risks of air pockets in caves and usually carried a lighter to test the oxygen levels before removing his regulator however on that tragic day he didn't have his lighter and assumed the air was safe for a short breath the footage also showed the walls of the shaft and then captured Paul's submersion in water as he made no attempt to replace his regulator he lost consciousness instantly becoming incapacitated and inadvertently poisoning himself with CO2 dying within a minute or two as he sank to the bottom the Santa Rosa Blue Hole tragedy on March 26th 2016 two skilled cave divers went on a dangerous mission to map an unexplored part of a cave system in Santa Rosa New Mexico unfortunately something terrible happened deeper caves beneath its floor were sealed in 1976 after two divers died in 2016 after reopening the entrance a 10-person team including experienced cave divers Mike Young and Navy veteran Shane Thompson spent three days exploring the reopened tunnels and chambers on the third and last day Mike and Shane planned to explore a very tight spot at 140 ft then move down to another narrow opening at 165 ft shane was told to wait at the open area and not go past the second opening himself beyond the 165 ft point there were five more tight spots before the cave's last known area mike followed a guideline that had been set earlier moving through boulders and squeezing through narrow passages while carrying tanks on his side and a rebreather unit shane had been following Mike up to the 165 ft opening there Mike told him to wait but as soon as Mike was out of sight Shane decided to follow him even though that was against their plan mike did not know that Shane was right behind him shane followed the guideline along a rocky path over large boulders and sharp bends until he reached a narrow 3-foot opening at that point the water was full of silt and he ran into another tight passage he turned his body and tried to pull himself along the wall but his back-mounted rebreather got caught on a rock sticking out from the tunnel ceiling with one arm forward and the other touching the cave wall and the guideline he twisted trying to free himself soon he found that he was stuck between the rocks moving backwards could have damaged his rebreather which would have been very dangerous as he panicked his breathing became fast and shallow suddenly Mike's arm hit Shane's head and they ended up face to face at about 195 ft deep mike was surprised to find Shane there and Shane said he was stuck and needed help mike tried for several minutes to free him but they began to panic because the tunnel was too tight for both of them to move if Shane remained trapped finally Mike pushed Shane in just the right way to free his rebreather and pulled him through the tight spot shane then went back through the restriction he had just escaped scraping himself on the rocks but avoiding getting stuck like the first time mike followed but soon noticed that Shane had accidentally moved the guideline leaving Mike unable to see where to go in the boulder-filled passage meanwhile Shane continued along the winding path and faced yet another narrow passage still in panic he moved too quickly and got the guideline tangled around his legs he managed to free himself but lost the guideline in the process his heart began to race and his breathing sped up this was dangerous because rebreathers needed controlled breathing to work properly with no clear exit and only tight holes around him he could not reach the guideline he had seen just outside where he was trapped he started to hyperventilate and could not calm down at that moment Mike reappeared seeing that Shane was very scared Mike moved around the rocks to find an opening he grabbed Shane by the shoulders and turned him around shane seeing a way out lunged forward and swam under Mike but he became trapped again this time underneath Mike's body unable to move forward in desperation Shane thrashed and kicked while Mike protected his face from the blows during the struggle Shane's heels tore Mike's suit and scraped him against the rocks before Shane finally broke free afterwards Mike realized he was still able to function and that his equipment was mostly okay except for a ripped suit valve that let the 52° Fahrenheit water in he had also lost a fin but managed to get it back soon after with his nerves wrecked Shane continued along the guideline determined to escape his rebreather could not keep up with his fast breathing so he switched to his emergency bailout tank for air approaching another series of tight spots he pulled himself through with all his strength but got stuck for the third time and this time Mike was nowhere in sight meanwhile Mike had climbed a little and found a hole leading back to the guideline believing that Shane had gone ahead he followed the line upward toward the next restriction feeling tension on the line he assumed that Shane was pulling from the front at the next tieoff however Mike realized that Shane was actually behind him still attached to an earlier part of the guideline fearing the worst for Shane Mike backtracked through the tight passages and boulders but soon the line stopped moving a sign that Shane was in serious trouble pressing on Mike discovered Shane wedged tightly in a narrow opening lifeless and no longer wearing his rebreather mouthpiece his bailout tank was empty his suit was torn and the cord to his dive computer was ripped away it was clear that Shane had fought hard to free himself but had not survived mike tried to free Shane but soon realized he had to start to get out and report the tragedy to the rest of the team he returned the next day to recover Shane's body having navigated those tight maze-like passages through the Boulderfield all by himself culverson Creek tragedy at around 3:45 p. m on November 28th 1985 seven cavers entered the Fuller's entrance of Culverson Creek Cave a 20. 8 m long system in Greenbryer County West Virginia the group had originally planned to explore Frier's Hole but high water levels because of heavy rain forced them to switch to a cave less prone to flooding none of the cavers had been in Fullers before the entrance passage was a canyon between 5 and 8 ft wide with a 6 to 12 in deep stream flowing swiftly over small loose rock slabs about 50 ft inside on a downhill slope a boulder stood in the center of the passage with the stream flowing by on the left at 3:50 p.

m three cavers passed the boulder while three more were in the process with 26-year-old Eric Sakle leading as Sakal reached the center of the boulder it suddenly tilted to the left despite the caver's attempts to stop it the rock moved pinning Sakal by his head in a standing position one caver immediately left to get help while four others attempted in vain to move the boulder then one caver supported Sakle from below as three companions searched the entrance cave for something to use as a lever they tried with old truck parts but they proved ineffective one caver was sent to fetch a hydraulic autojack and another called the Eastern Region Cave Rescue Network at 4:10 p. m saklay lost consciousness within 30 seconds of the rockfall and stopped moving after about 1 minute at 3:59 p. m John Evans a member of the group noted that Sackle's pulse was still strong despite his unconscious state and a trickle of blood from his left nostril around 4:20 p.

m the hydraulic jack arrived on the scene with its help along with some crowbars the team was finally able to shift the boulder saka was carefully moved to a dry spot about 20 ft away and CPR was initiated immediately the Renick rescue squad soon arrived and a paramedic took over CPR at 4:29 p. m sakley was evacuated on a stretcher and reached a hospital by ambulance despite establishing IVs and administering cardiac drugs his condition did not improve and he was pronounced dead at 6:05 p.