The treasures beneath our feet

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The depths of the earth must be especially beautiful here in our rural county because five cavers from the United Kingdom were here last week to explore them. No billboards or road signs mark the treasures hidden beneath our feet. No one has put up a visitor center and hired a staff to give guided tours, but for the serious caver, this must be a dream destination.

For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
Psalm 95:3-4

I have heard about a cave here and there in the fifteen years since we moved here, but it wasn’t until Ray and I got involved with the Chamber of Commerce in January that I began to learn of their magnificence. I don’t know how the five cavers from the United Kingdom heard about what God has placed beneath our feet but because of their visit, word is out. CNN, ABC News, NBC News, the Associated Press, and the BBC all told about their adventures last week.

Last Wednesday afternoon Ray called Ann, a member of our church. As they chatted, Ann told Ray that she had learned on Facebook that a caver from the United Kingdom was trapped in one of our caves! Amazed and concerned, Ray and I started checking local news sources.

Here is what happened. These five experienced cavers dove into Mill Pond on Tuesday, April 16. They swam underwater and entered Mill Pond Cave. I have enjoyed guided tours of caves, such as Mammoth Cave and Cumberland Caverns, but my sense of adventure doesn’t extend to entering a cave underwater!

Years ago, nearby Tennessee Tech University mapped Mill Pond Cave (on private land in the Flynn’s Creek Community of Jackson County, Tennessee, which is also home to the Flynn’s Lick Impact Crater, where NASA astronauts trained for the Apollo missions). The cavers used a guide rope that Tennessee Tech had placed in the cave.

Five cavers went in on that Tuesday afternoon, but only four came out. Josh Bratchley of Wales was trapped inside. His fellow cavers made several unsuccessful attempts to rescue him before calling Jackson County 911 in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

Emergency personnel got in touch with veteran technical cave diver Edd Sorenson and another caving specialist from Arkansas. Sorenson flew from Florida to Tennessee. He arrived first. Sorenson entered the cave, fearing the worst.

Soon after we got home from church on Wednesday evening, our friend Debi texted that our friend Tammie who lives in the Flynn’s Creek community had let her know that the caver was rescued!

It had been twenty-seven hours since his friends discovered that he was missing! Sorenson found him waiting patiently in an air pocket, confident that he would be rescued. “Thank you. Thank you,” said Bratchley to Sorenson. “Who are you?” Forty-five to fifty minutes after Sorenson dove into the pond and entered the cave, he and Bratchley emerged. Bratchley refused medical treatment and said he wanted some pizza.

Sorenson said that in twenty years, he has brought only six people out alive from a water-filled cave. He credited Bratchley’s calm demeanor and cool headedness as key to his own rescue. Most of the first responders on the team were volunteers. The cavers will pay for Sorenson’s flight to Tennessee. Before the week was out, Bratchley and his friends were back exploring Tennessee caves.

Bratchley handled his predicament like a pro because he is a pro. He has been on the other side of the equation before. Josh Bratchley was one of the men who rescued that young soccer team in a water-filled cave in Thailand last year.

Ray and I keep hearing what a wonderful job our local first responders did last week. They were well-prepared for the unusual challenge. On Tuesday, Ray complimented our county mayor for the great job the county did. Mayor Heady is both our mayor and a minister at a local church. He told Ray that the cave rescue tied in well to his Sunday morning sermon. The lost caver tried several times to save himself, but he couldn’t; he needed a rescuer. We couldn’t save ourselves either; we needed Jesus.

For while we were still helpless,
at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:6

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