American caver Mark Dickey said he could tell he was "pretty close to fading" after he fell ill while on an expedition to map a 4,186-foot-deep cave system in southern Turkey. The 40-year-old New Jersey native and New York resident was more than 3,400 feet below the surface inside the Morca Cave in the Taurus Mountains on Aug. 31 when he "suddenly became ill with intestinal problems that rapidly progressed into life-threatening bleeding and vomiting," according to the New Jersey Initial Response Team, a group of volunteers led by Dickey who specialize in cave and mine rescues. Dickey's fiancée and fellow caver, Jessica Van Ord, said she had a difficult decision to make -- stay by his side to take care of him or go find help.