Teenager freed from narrow ‘pretzel’ cave with oil after being stuck for hours

One of the most unique rescues in spelunking occurred 25 years ago, after a teenager got stuck in an impassable conduit in a cave in Pennsylvania.

On August 15, 2000, 15 teenagers “went on a youth group outing” at Duffield Cave in Franklin County, Penn. Despite the young age of 17, she was one of the most experienced cavers in the group.

Things went according to plan during the first hour of the adventure inside the limestone cave, until “a young cave female got stuck in a tight spot” in the passage, National Speleological Society reported in its June 2003 newsletter.

The excursion went awry when the group approached a terrifying area known as “The Pretzel” for its gut-like shape, which forced spelunkers to turn their bodies in unnatural ways, according to On The Verge YouTube channel.

Drawings of Duffield Cave, seen in the YouTube video, show the section has a narrow entrance, then curves upwards before flowing left, drops back down and curves right before angling back up into a larger chamber.

Most of the group turned back, but the teenager decided to give it a try, reportedly relying on her experience, according to On The Verge.

Starting with her head, she confidently navigated the first few sections, contorting her body through the passageways, which grew tighter the further she climbed. As she came to one of the final turns, her breathing reportedly became shallow, restricted by the tight space, and suddenly she was stuck, the video explained.

While her upper body was facing upwards, her lower body was bent, giving her body a V shape. She had nowhere to move.

“Her right shoulder stuck to the wall, her left hip wedged against the opposite side. Her legs, still angled from the earlier turns, couldn’t find purchase to push forward or pull back. The passage had become a limestone straitjacket, holding her in a position that seemed impossible to escape,” a video from On the border, which shares “in-depth educational content that examines devastating real-life disasters,” explained.

Her friends tried to grab her feet and pull her out, but that only wedged her further into the space.

During four hours, several rescue attempts failed. Hoping to create lubrication, water was poured on her, but the walls absorbed the liquid, according to On the border. The water also caused her core temperature to drop to a dangerously low level and hypothermia crept in.

“She found herself having conversations with the cave walls, apologizing for intruding, politely asking them to let her go,” the video continued.

As her body began to shake and her mind became hazy, the work of extraction only became more difficult.

“Her friends were unable to free her and alerted the landowner, who called 911,” National Speleological Society reported. “A large-scale effort by police, fire and other emergency service personnel resulted. Eventually local caves were also called in.”

Soon a special rescue unit and local cavemen descended on the area and realized that the water, along with her sweat, was expanding her size. A unique idea emerged, which proved to be the difference between life and death.

“The girl was finally freed after about four hours by the removal of most of her clothing and a liberal application of cooking oil,” the newsletter said. The oil made her body slippery, allowing rescuers to pull her out of the passage by working backwards and removing any twists that trapped her.

Miraculously, she suffered only minor injuries and mild hypothermia.