No injured cavers recorded.
On May 16, Bill Fields (48) led a party of five on a photo/pleasure trip in Nutt Cave, West Virginia. They entered the cave at about 10 a.m. and proceeded to the first room, taking photographs as they went. There they stopped for lunch. A short time later they continued into the cave, taking photos and checking side leads. At the first drop a rope was rigged, presumably for a handline, and all went down. At this point Fields started down a small hole on the right. Right away he became faint and fell to his right. He had to be pulled back out. He was perspiring heavily, had a "beet-red" face and was experiencing blurred vision. He was very weak and unable to stand unsupported. He rested for 15-20 minutes and began to feel better. Fields insisted on continuing so they proceeded down the drop to the stream where they did more photography. Fields made it out without further incident. On Monday extensive testing indicated a possible slight heart attack and very high blood pressure.
Fields obviously had a suffered a physiological malfunction and should not have been allowed to continue. Victims are not the best judge of what should be done. High Blood pressure is a treatable condition and one should have checkups at some regular Interval to detect its onset.