For the rest of his life, Westerhoyze shuddered every time he thought about June 8, 2014.
He felt an invisible wind blowing in every corner of the ground 1,000 meters underground, the dark universe was silent, everything was cold, and only his own blood was hot. To the average person, the level of eagerness of these explorers to pursue the unknown is terrifying.
Every time I find a new world after many thrills, an excitement that I have never experienced in my life swells up in my heart, stimulating every nerve. They look forward to this feeling, being in uncharted territory, and proud of their bravery.
*No hanging. The story begins in June 2018 in a natural lime cave in Germany, the Riesending Cave (also translated as Riesender).
It is located in the Unterberg Mountains on the border between Bavaria and Austria in Germany, north of the city of Berchtesgaden, Germany, more than 1,000 meters above the ground, and up to 1,150 meters at its deepest point, with an extremely complex internal structure and a total length of about 19At 2 km, it is the deepest and longest known cave in Germany.
Since the discovery of the cave by the research team in 1995, it was not explored until 2002, but no one has ever drawn a complete map of the cave.
From the data, I feel that in front of this "abyss mouth", human beings are as humble as ants, and the entrance to this cave alone is 400 meters deep, and there is endless darkness and twists and turns below.
If an ordinary person is in a cave, even a glance inside will make his scalp tingle with fear.
The 52-year-old German spelunker and researcher, Johann Westerhoyzer, one of the original discoverers of the Riesender Cave, is very familiar with the cave.
*Independent. At this age, it is obviously not suitable to explore the unknown area of the cave in person, and it is a terrifying giant cave at a depth of 1,000 meters.
But at the invitation of his 41-year-old friend Meyer, Westerhoyze decided to challenge himself to create a new milestone and invited another scholar with extensive caving experience, Matam.
On June 7, 2014, three veterans of the caving world came to Riesende Cave to explore the cave, knowing that it would take at least a few days and to prepare enough food and supplies.
Standing on the edge of the cave, Westerhoyze felt the excitement that he had not felt for a long time, and the bottomless black cavern seemed to become more mysterious with the passage of time.
The trio quickly prepared the ropes for the descent, descended one after another, and passed through the first section of the 400-meter-long tunnel, with each descent the higher their emotions became, ready to respond to unexpected situations.
*Independent. The further you go into the Lysender Cave, the denser the potential dangers become, such as the rock walls being particularly slippery due to the wetness, and if you slip and slip, you may be crushed.
There is also a lot of rubble in the cave, which slides from the walls from time to time, and if it is hit, the life will be burned in an instant.
The second section of the cave is a horizontal cave, so you don't need to descend any further, so you have to climb forward carefully.
Westerhouyze and his two friends were very confident, measuring and comparing in an orderly manner, placing water and food at different stages, partly to lighten the weight of the burden, and partly to prepare for the return trip.
The further you go into the cave, the thinner the air becomes, the temperature drops, and at the deepest point of 1,000 meters above the ground, you must have a sleeping bag to maintain your body temperature, which is very demanding on the physical fitness of explorers.
The crawling of the three of them in the second stage of the cave lasted until the early morning of the next day, because they were all veterans, their physical strength was not depleted quickly, and their spirits were also very full.
They decided to go straight through the third stage, which is a few hundred meters deep, also a vertical downward journey, and then the fourth stage of the cave, which is more than 1,000 meters above the ground, a very long tunnel, and beyond that there is an unknown area.
1,000 meters underground, this is a secluded place, there is no life in the cave, there is no light, and the suffocating atmosphere requires a great deal of psychological balance.
The three of West continued to move forward, entering the sleeping bag to rest every distance they walked, it was a protracted battle, and every link had to be planned.
Confident and taking exploration as extremely important, they soon reached uncharted areas that were not marked on the map.
In this place, there are many forks in the road, and if you are not careful, you can get lost.
*Independent. The three of West were very excited, they finally came to this place, and as pioneers in this field, they would play an important role in cave research.
At this moment, Meyer was resting beside him, and Westhoyze and Matam were two people exploring forward. Matam walked in front with a rope hanging from his body, and Westerhoyze followed behind with the rope.
The two men tried to climb to a landing point, with Matam arriving first and letting West let go of the rope. However, the unexpected happened at this time.
It may be that the actions of the two affected the environment, and a stone fell from a height of more than 10 meters above the head of Westerho Ichize.
Although the two of them were aware of it, they couldn't react in time, and Matam watched as the rock hit West's helmet.
The sudden debris caused West to fall to the ground, not wailing, not struggling, just lying motionless on the ground. This made Matam and Meyer very nervous, and they quickly stepped forward to check on West's situation.
Although protected by a helmet, the impact of a stone falling from a height of more than ten meters is extraordinary. They carefully took off West's helmet, and the blood flowed down and dripped onto their hands. The mood of the two had sunk to the bottom, and Meyer cried and saidHe's dead, West is dead!
Pain welled up in the heart, leaving two people at a loss, and in this case, there was no rescue measure. However, while the two of them were sluggish from the pain, West miraculously began to breathe and moan.
This made the two people next to him overjoyed, and immediately moved him to a safe position to avoid further damage caused by the low temperature.
They examined the wound and found that West's head had been cut by his helmet, but it was unknown what kind of damage had been done, and he had to be taken to the hospital immediately. At a depth of 1,000 meters, there was no signal, and it was impossible to climb to the surface with the injured West.
Even if there is little hope, they want to give it a try. After a few words of discussion, Meyer went to the surface to ask for help, while Matam stayed behind to take care of Westhouyze.
*Independent. Not a second could be wasted, and Meyer began to move, heading towards the hole. At this moment, only Matam and Westerhoyze, who twitched from time to time, were left in the cave. To save electricity, Matam turned off all the lights and set up a makeshift tent where the two of them waited.
They are in the endless darkness of the night, death is creeping in, and an unprecedented sense of loneliness strikes the two of them. In order to make West feel better, Matam did not hesitate to heat the rest of the water on the stove, apply it to his chest, and keep talking to him to keep him conscious as much as possible.
West's condition improved slightly after Matam's treatment, but that didn't slow down for long, and the injury still worsened.
Matam calculated that even if Meyer went out as fast as he could, it would take more than a dozen hours, and with the arrival of the rescue team and the implementation of the plan, it would take an incalculable amount of time.
No matter how you speculate, this rescue will end in failure. But even if you know you're failing, do it.
Matam is on the verge of a breakdown, with hope in the cave 1,000 meters underground. However, at this moment, a ray of light suddenly appeared in front of Matam, and the light from the flashlight was in this cave 1,000 meters underground!
The appearance of this light brought great encouragement to Matam, like a meteor in the darkness. Immediately afterward, the dawn came to Matam, another explorer named Schwartz. In the deepest cave in Germany, on this ordinary day, there is actually another explorer here!
*Independent. Matam wanted to explain the current situation, but found that he could not stop crying, and he found salvation in extreme fear. It took a while for Matam to calm down and explain the situation to Schwartz.
Knowing the situation, Schwartz immediately abandoned his expedition, took out all the supplies, and took care of Westerhoyze together.
Undoubtedly, Schwartz's appearance made Matam no longer afraid, and in his eyes it was a miracle. On the other side, after 12 hours of climbing, Meyer had exhausted all his physical strength and finally reached the surface and used what little strength he had left to go to the local aid station for help.
At this moment, the news of West's suffering spread all over the world, and the caving masters of various countries set off one after another, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, etc., as long as there are enough people, the success rate of saving people will be greater.
But after all, it is the Lysendre Cave, no matter how many people there are, they are insignificant in front of this cave, and the key to success lies in planning in advance.
Two days after West and others entered the cave, the local rescue team arrived first, followed by many rescue teams and relevant departments
Standing at the entrance of the cave, these people began to discuss the rescue plan, they wanted the experienced rescuers to go to West's location, make basic ** and replenishment of items, and prepare for the rescue for a longer period of time.
Soon, rescuers reached the position of Westerhoeyze, by which time he had begun to have frequent convulsions.
After examining the wounds, rescuers determined that the brain damage was so severe that he immediately entered the intensive care unit and wrapped West in a blanket to prevent him from cooling down.
At the same time, there are hundreds of rescuers outside the cave, but only a few dozen people can reach 1,000 meters underground.
Each one-way trip takes ten hours, and you have to prevent danger from happening.
While the rescue plan was being discussed, Westerhoyze's condition began to deteriorate again, convulsing violently every few minutes, and the intervals were getting shorter and shorter.
Matam beside him was terrified, and whenever West had convulsions, he would treat him to help him relieve.
After several rescues, Matam's nerves had collapsed, and he even thought that letting West go like this might be the best option.
But the next second he rejected the idea, and he was convinced that he was going to live with West.
At this time, days have passed since West was trapped, and the rescue team finally began to implement the rescue plan.
Rescuers plan to dispose of all threatened rubble first to prevent rescuers from being injured while working. After that, the fixed pulley and ** line were installed, a resting place was set up at intervals, water and food were prepared, and then Westerhoyze was rescued by a relay of many people.
This will be the most difficult rescue activity in history, and it will cost tens of millions of manpower and material resources. It saves a life, and it's worth it!
This epic rescue lasted hundreds of hours until June 19, 12 days after West was trapped.
After the continuous efforts of the rescuers, Westerhoyze was finally sent to the surface from the ground in one go.
During this process, rescuers took turns to fix and improve West's protective devices, and transported them to the surface step by step.
The moment West walked out of the cave, it was like a newborn baby returning to the world.
Westhoyze was rushed to the hospital in a coma, and the rest of the rescuers have begun to put the finishing touches.
After a few months, Westerhoyze survived and returned to the level of a normal person, leaving no excessive trauma.
In this rescue, according to statistics at the time, a total of 728 people participated in the rescue for a week, and the cost was converted into 20 million yuan.
At the time, the incident kept millions of people in mind, and many discussed whether it was worth spending so much money to save someone.
Two years later, in 2016, Westerhoyser was finally able to go caving again.
His expression darkened whenever he thought of the Lysendre Cave, and the moment the stone kissed the top of his head, a sense of helplessness and despair enveloped him, making him unable to speak, and he could only lie there.
But he won't give up on adventure, because it's what he loves, and maybe he values it more than his own life.