Cave crawl gone wrong: the ins and difficult out of Jenolan Cave rescue

Stuck in a small hole, in an awkward position, unable to move for around 10 hours, was the situation a man believed to be in his 30s found himself in, over the 2024 Easter long weekend.

But luckily, the awkward and lengthy rescue at Jenolan Caves ended positively, thanks to the work of emergency services and some dedicated volunteers.

Four members of the NSW Cave Rescue Squad, captained by Alan Warild, were called to the incident at around 7.20pm on Saturday, March 30, and didn't leave the site until they had successfully freed the stuck man and the lady trapped behind him.

Which wasn't until around 4.45am the following morning.

Members of a university caving club made the trip to Jenolan to go caving through the Rho Hole cave.

According to Mr Warild, the cave requires a lot of crawling and going through tight narrow passages called squeezes, which progressively get narrower and smaller as the cave goes on.

But as the group had not been to the cave before, they weren't aware that the final squeeze before reaching the end of the cave was so much harder to navigate than the others.

And it was partway through trying to crawl out of the tight passage when the man became stuck.

Unable to move forward or back, and trapping another member of the group behind him.

"He was about a body's length in, because the person behind him could reach his feet without too much trouble," Mr Warild said.

"There was an awkward bend just beyond where he was and he was already caught in what would have been an uncomfortable position for quite a few hours.

"He had this lump of rock that he would have had to bend around [to keep going forward] and he was already twisted and caught, so he was unable to bend anymore.

"So that was the situation when we got there."

Before the cave rescue team could begin working to free the people, special operations paramedics assessed the man and provided both he and the lady behind him with food and water.

Getting the man out was no easy task, with Mr Warild crawling in a passage underneath the man who was stuck, and having to work on freeing him while laying on his back the whole time.

He likened the position to someone laying on their back under a bed, but having to spend hours chipping away at the rocks to create a wider path.

And while the man was wearing a helmet and had been given safety goggles and earmuffs, and a bag in front of his face to protect him from bits of chipping rock, Mr Warild had to work very carefully being so close to the man.

"You're quite conscious that you're swinging a hammer sort of 10cm away from his nose," Mr Warild said.

But after hours of chipping away at the bolder that was stopping the man from progressing forward, there was enough room for both people to get out.

And thanks to the hard work from the NSW Cave Rescue Squad, SES crews, NSW Ambulance and police, everyone left Jenolan safe and well.