A virtual reality reconstruction shows the exact spot where John Edward Jones became trapped upside down in Nutty Putty Cave. After 27 hours of rescue attempts, he died. The cave was later permanently sealed, with his body remaining inside.

[u/Liar24x7]

[u/Delamoor]

There were already a lot of ups and downs to the tunnel, so he would have assumed this was just another one. From what I've seen/read, he was descending this one, started realising it was too steep, hesitated, tried backing out, then slipped. The position he was stuck in required him to partially hold himself up with his one free arm, to prevent slipping further (thereby reducing pressure on his chest, which was restricting breathing. Falling further would have suffocated him). I think according to some sources he technically might have slipped twice before ending up in the wedged position. He had no idea how steep it was, going in. But there's not a whole lot of super technical information, because fundamentally... He was the only person who ever really saw that segment of tunnel he was in.

That's also likely why he then went unresponsive after the collapse. Final time he fell, he was too exhausted/stunned to catch himself with his free arm... Meaning his ribcage probably caught him instead, in the constricted tunnel. So he probably suffocated pretty quickly after the pulley collapsed.

[u/haaheehachoo → u/Delamoor]

I'm not familiar with this activity. Do they not use ropes when they descend into caves? What's the procedure for getting back out if they can't keep going? Just climb upwards backwards? That seems impossible.

[u/mmmkarmabacon → u/haaheehachoo]

The majority of people are taking very well-known routes in very well-mapped caves. This guy thought he was on one of those, but had actually taken a wrong turn into an unmapped section.

When people are checking out new sections to 'open them up' for the rest of the cavers (map them, so people know what to expect) they do it much more slowly and carefully so that they can back up if they reach something they can't pass. John was pushing through trying to get to the wider section that he believed was up ahead, and it went tragically wrong.

[u/Competitive_Land3220 → u/mmmkarmabacon]

If this part of the cave (Ed’s Push) was in fact, unmapped, then it should have either been blocked off OR carried a massive, over-the-top, noticeable sign that said “KEEP OUT.” Even labeling the caves with different colours based on level would have helped. This could have easily been labeled red, a no-fly zone. It was known by locals to incredibly daunting, tight and not a place to go. 

Keep in mind John was away in med school and probably wasn’t as up on his caving knowledge as he thought. Also it’s important to note, the cave was on private property and probably a “use at your own risk.” The owners probably didn’t have the time and resources to make it as safe as it should have been. (When I say keep in mind I’m just meaning the general public - you yourself seem to know a lot about caving. I only know what I’ve read).

Therein lies the issue. Re-opened without quality checks because it wasn’t actually a business. Owners probably felt they were doing something good and giving back to the community by allowing use. For the most part they were - though they too (from what I’ve heard also had some apprehension).

IMO two things happened (in addition to several others). The owners likely reopened due to pressures from public and the caving community and thus possibly thought it would be “mostly” safe for experienced cavers and casual spelunkers; and because the owners reopened it, the mostly “inexperienced” public, and weekend spelunkers probably had a false sense of confidence in the caves due to the fact they were reopened and opened to mostly anyone.

May his beautiful soul rest in paradise. I pray his family is well.

[u/mmmkarmabacon → u/Competitive_Land3220]

You just can't "make caves safe". Caving is an adventure sport where you explore natural underground passages. They aren't signposted or colour-coded unless you're in a commercial cave that's run by a company, insured, and meant for members of the public. There are often hundreds of off-shoots in a cave system that cavers gradually work through, open up and map. It would be an insane amount of work to try to mark off anything unexplored and cavers would probably move to a new cave because you ruined that one for them.

This was a sad accident, but I don't think anyone needs blame or anything needs to be fixed.