| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yi, Simon | 18 | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
At about 11 a.m. on April 7, a party of six cavers entered Clarksville Cave in Clarksville, New York. This was a Tufts University Mountain Club group and only their leader had previous caving experience. They explored the upstream, Wards section of the cave and returned to the Wards entrance where two of the party exited. The remaining four headed into the Gregory section and proceeded the 500 feet to Brinley's Sump. Most of the year this is two feet of near sump with one foot of air space. In high water periods, as was the case on April 7, it is sumped for 5 to 10 feet.
The group discussed the situation and decided (majority vote) not to make the dive. Simon Yi (18), however, with two flashlights proceeded into the sump, emerging in an air-filled room. He became disoriented, developed doubts about his ability to dive the sump back to the group, and after wringing out his clothes, wisely sat down to await rescue.
At 4:30 p.m. the rest of the group exited to get help. The State Police were called and they ultimately reached the Albany-Schoharie Cave Rescue Team. At 6 p.m the first of this group arrived at the cave. Six of them were soon escorted to the sump and at 7 p.m. after one unsuccessful dive a rescuer made it through and fixed a guideline. Yi was 'cold but rational.' The Gregory Entrance was the obvious route out, but was sumped closed. Yi was reassured but did not want to attempt to dive back through the sump so the rescuer returned and divers were summoned.
At 9:30 p.m. two rescueres free-dove the sump and gave the victim some hot chocolate. Yi was still in good condition but it was obvious that hypothermia was only a matter of time. A scuba tank soon arrived and the victim was instructed in its use. With a face mask, strong diving light, and holding a rescuer's arm, Yi proceeded through without difficulty. He exited the cave with an escort at about 11:30 p.m.
The decisions and actions in this rescue all seem reasonable. The interesting question here is why did the victim go through? Some animal species have an instinctive drive to explore in order to expand the territory of the species. Obviously man is one of these. Perhaps this explains cave exploring, but what about the seemingly suicidal urges that occasionally come upon some of us. Yi was quoted as saying 'I just got an impulse to go through - I just wasn't thinking.'
Simon Yi (18) from a Tufts University Mountain Club group became stranded in Clarksville Cave after diving through a sumped section. He awaited rescue and was extracted without injury.