If you enjoy exploring the wilderness, you’ve likely been made aware of the rule of threes. For those who aren’t aware, this refers to the average person’s ability to survive for three weeks without food, three days without water, and three minutes without air.
So those unfortunate enough to end up in a situation without any of these necessities may find themselves counting down this deadly time limit as they await rescue.
RELATED STORIES
And as the literal deadlines grow closer, it’s easy for a situation to feel more and more hopeless and that’s especially true if one of those crucial time limits have already elapsed.
So when one man in Cambodia became trapped in a cave, he had every reason to think he was living on borrowed time. However, it turned out to be enough.
On August 4, 28-year-old Sum Bora was scaling rocks near Chakrai Mountain in the Battambang province of Cambodia.
As the BBC reported , he and friend often traverse this area because they both have small builds and can easily fit in narrow passages.
And there was a lucrative, if unpleasant reason why the two friends often explored the region.
The area around the mountain is an ideal location to collect bat guano, which is considered an excellent and valuable fertilizer.
This time, however, Bora underwent this task alone. This almost led to his doom when he dropped his flashlight in a cave.
While trying to retrieve it, Bora slipped and was soon trapped between two rocks.
Not only was he stuck and seriously injured, but he didn’t have any food or water to sustain him.
As he said , “I had lost hope of staying alive and if I had a knife with me I’d have committed suicide.”
However, there was reason to hope again after his family started looking for him.
That’s because his friend discovered where he had fallen two days after the accident.
The friend was able to reach Bora through a narrow passage, but when rescue teams arrived later, they couldn’t free him.
Finally, a more elite team arrived by helicopter and were able to release him by destroying parts of the cave. He was then hospitalized and treated for head, knee, and chest injuries.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had apparently arranged for the rescue team and donated the equivalent of $2,500 to his family. Police have also banned climbing that mountain further.
h/t: BBC
