|
"I
managed to get some water from the cave walls, by basically
licking the moisture off the wall," Lukas Cavar said in a
telephone interview on Friday.
Cavar was on a beginner's field trip to a cave south of the
university's main campus in Bloomington, Indiana. He said he was
separated from his group on Sunday and found nearly three days
later, curled in a ball and sleeping by the cave's locked
entrance.
"My biggest worry was not making it out alive," Cavar said. "I
was afraid I would never see my friends or family again."
He had a headlamp and there was some sunlight in the cave. Cavar
passed time by searching for water, talking to himself and
sleeping.
University officials did not immediately return messages seeking
comment. According to the Indiana Daily Student university
newspaper, leaders of the school's Caving Club would not comment
on how Cavar became separated from the group.
When Cavar reached the cave's gated entrance he found it
padlocked. He yelled for hours, trying to attract the attention
of people on a nearby road. His cellphone could not get a
signal.
After a while, Cavar said people began to notice he was missing,
including the person with whom he shared a ride to the cave and
they organized a search.
By Tuesday night, Cavar's parents had called the university and
reported their son missing. A few hours later, a leader of the
Caving Club rescued him, the university newspaper said.
Cavar did not seek medical treatment and returned to his
dormitory room.
"The first thing I wanted to do was eat and drink and put on
some warm clothes," he said, adding that for now, he plans to
give up spelunking.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Jon
Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Leslie
Adler)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
|
