ISTANBUL, Turkey - A US explorer trapped deep in a Turkish cave with internal bleeding said in a video released to AFP on Friday that he needed "a lot of help" getting out.
Mark Dickey, 40, reported falling sick last Saturday while exploring the Morca Cave in southern Turkey's Taurus Mountains with an international team.
Dickey fell ill at a depth of 1,120 metres (3,675 feet) and has been resting at a base camp located 1,040 metres underground.
An international team of medics and explorers as well as Turkish rescue workers has been able to reach Dickey and give him blood infusions and first aid.
They are also lowering stretchers and other equipment needed to delicately pull him out.
In the video, dated Wednesday and released to AFP by the Turkish presidency, Dickey could be seen standing up and talking clearly into the camera.
"Hi, I'm Mark Dickey from nearly 1,000 meters," he says, dressed in a red puffer jacket and smiling at one stage.
"As you can see, I'm up, I'm alert, I'm talking, but I'm not healed on the inside yet, so I'm going to need a lot of help to get out of here," he says.
"The quick response of the Turkish government to get the medical supplies that I needed, in my opinion saved my life."
The Morca Cave is Turkey's third-deepest, according to the Turkish Caving Federation, running to a maxim depth of 1,276 metres.
The federation said on Friday that Dickey's "drug treatment" was continuing while rescuers were getting the proper equipment in place.
In the video, Dickey says his spirits were lifted when his fiancee, identified only as Jessica, was able climb down to reach him in the cave.
"I was very close to the edge when Jessica got back to me. So many thanks to the Turkish government and the Turkish cavers that are helping to support the international community here," he says.
Neither Dickey nor Turkish officials and the rescue teams have disclosed the exact nature of the explorer's health problems.