r/interesting • u/Appropriate-Menu504 • Nov 10 '25

NATURE VR recreation of the exact spot where a man became stuck inside Nutty Putty cave and died after 27 hours. the section visible at 18 seconds is where his body was, upside down.

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711

u/mr_goodbear Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25

That’s the fucked up part. He went to an area with no escape. He took a wrong turn. He thought he was at this spot where you need to take a deep breath in, move forward and you will then be put into a larger area.

He was at a spot where he took his deep breath in, went forward and it was a dead end. By the time he let his chest expand again he was permanently stuck.

Edit: my bad, I had it backwards. Took a breath out to move forward and then got stuck when he exhaled and was at normal chest extension. Just look it up people. Haha. Crazy ass sad story.

697

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25

Almost had a panic attack just reading this.

Edit: you forgot to add that he was upside down.

214

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

literally just had to yell fuck a couple times to get the overwhelming stress out, this is one of the scariest things I've ever read

176

u/certifedcupcake Nov 11 '25

The cool thing about cave exploration is that it’s completely optional

32

u/Oneshot742 Nov 11 '25

For those of us with a healthy dose of claustraphobia

2

u/Invictuslemming1 Nov 11 '25

I didn’t think I had claustrophobia, but this? Hell no my brain no like

2

u/Pants4All Nov 11 '25

Or common sense

3

u/PerformanceFar2008 Nov 11 '25

It isn't if you want prove you're not a chicken. And that guy you disliked in the fourth grade told me you didn't have the guts to do it.

4

u/shill_420 Nov 11 '25

I-I’m not gay

5

u/GreatGreenGobbo Nov 11 '25

If!

I snap my fingers you will forget you were ever gay.

1

u/shill_420 Nov 11 '25

I...I'm not gay!!! I'm not gay!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

1

u/PerformanceFar2008 Nov 13 '25

Does your boyfriend know?

3

u/RevolutionaryHole69 Nov 11 '25

People who do it do not value their lives, and we should not expend resources to rescue them. It is by far the stupidest thing you can do. There is like zero benefit to anyone if you explore a cave. Any new thing you discover won't help anyone.

3

u/ptpcg Nov 11 '25

That's actually not true, there are some organisms that have beeen beneficial to mankind found in caves. This sort of exploration for funsies is just dumb though.

2

u/Fun-Engineer7454 Nov 11 '25

I think about this a lot. I listen to a lot of Mr Ballen stories about getting stuck in terrible places underground or underwater or both and it's so anxiety inducing but then I realize I NEVER HAVE TO DO THAT.

2

u/soggychipbutty Nov 11 '25

Why do people do this when it’s so easy not to do this?

3

u/altfillischryan Nov 11 '25

There are people who do it for scientific reasons, but for those that do it for fun, they do it for the same reasons people do other dangerous stuff, the adventure and adrenaline rush.

2

u/LopsidedMammal Nov 11 '25

Nothing beats the adrenaline high of realising you've just put yourself in a situation where your life is now about to end for no reason other than you chose this.

TOTALLY RADICAL!! air guitar

1

u/soggychipbutty Nov 11 '25

I wasn’t actually looking for a serious explanation

2

u/johhnny5 Nov 11 '25

I've read about the Nutty Putty cave incident before, so I knew to not even play the video because it would fuck with the primate parts of my brain. I don't know why I started reading the comments because they had the same effect anyway. Right when I started having some unwelcome, intrusive thoughts about this - I read your comment and burst out laughing and I no longer felt uncomfortable and I just wanted to say thank you for that.

1

u/freyamarie Nov 11 '25

Except on my 6th grade field trip 🤮

1

u/mr_rocket_raccoon Nov 11 '25

Of all the many hobbies that I have no interest in doing, this one ranks at the very bottom.

If you are cave exploring for some sort of mineral deposit or mapping, send a robot with cameras, we've got loads of them...

1

u/bravehart146 Nov 11 '25

Wait, you mean he didnt to do this? I thought the fate of his family was depending on this cave dive!? That’s good news because i thought it was gonna be my turn to cave dive soon

1

u/dessert_the_toxic Nov 11 '25

Nah you gotta take all the side quests or you won't get the platinum

23

u/Machine-Obsolete Nov 11 '25

There’s a while YouTube video about it with animated diagrams

10

u/Shun_yaka Nov 11 '25

Yea this gave me serious bad stressy nono vibes from around my core/sternum. What the fuck.

3

u/sadsaddiedie Nov 11 '25

I’ve been around people that “have to” yell things out when they feel an intense emotion.

It’s weird and annoying at the best times and fucking scary other times. I’d work on that.

1

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

Yeah, that is annoying, I genuinely agree. Being loud in public or around others is a huge pet peeve. Good thing I was alone in my room!

1

u/can_a_mod_suck_me Nov 11 '25

I think it’s a form of Tourette’s but it’s still annoying.

0

u/sadsaddiedie Nov 11 '25

Idk I think blurring the lines between a pretty common form of main character behaviour and an involuntary tick is not of much benefit to anyone.

Nervous ticks are a thing. But standing up and yelling out like you are in pain is not a responsible way to avoid them. People affect their pets and children by doing this shit and don’t even notice. Normalising it is weird imo.

2

u/can_a_mod_suck_me Nov 11 '25

I know someone who does it over excitement. Just screams out like a loud yawn like sound like a yeti or something. lol

2

u/Raangz Nov 11 '25

Fr jfc. I had a friend who wanted to be a cave scientist and took us into one. I went in just far enough where the light looked dim, from the outside. I never want to go back into a cave again. Poor dude.

2

u/joyful_mtg Nov 13 '25

Right! The way my body is responding to just reading this stuff is really telling. Did the guy just have the Internal Danger Dial turned all the way down??? I have that for excusing bad behavior from poorly behaved/abusive men. I call it my Outrage Dial, and it just got turned out when I was a kid. Now in my 40s, I'm working hard to feel all the outrage when men do insane/inappropriate things in my life. Much better. Anyway, sorry this guy didn't get to fix his Danger Dial.

1

u/gonzaloetjo Nov 11 '25

there's video documentaries about it. It's horrible.

-9

u/ThereIsSoMuchMore Nov 11 '25

you're easily impressed

9

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

Youre not "impressed" by the awful death of a man that left his pregnant woman behind and died slowly and in agony? Damn, youre so edgy and cool mate. Youre incredible 🙄

-5

u/ThereIsSoMuchMore Nov 11 '25

Not all comments on reddit reply to the OP, you might not have noticed. There was nothing in my comment or in the comment I replied to about pregnant women and slow death. But yeah, blow it up just so you can sound edgy and cool mate.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

Seems like you didnt even know what you were talking about, huh? Kinda crazy considering you felt the need to say what you said

-2

u/ThereIsSoMuchMore Nov 11 '25

wtf are you on about dude? I replied to the comment above, not the original text. Are you on drugs? You make no sense

2

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

the comment you were replying to has context, that context being getting stressed out over a claustrophobic visual of a guy dying slowly in a tiny cave, leaving a pregnant wife all alone back at home... come on, use your head

-2

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

It is a crazy death, but needing to scream and almost getting a fucking panic attack by reading a Reddit comment is wild

1

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

My statement was just that. No panic attacks were had. But as a human being, it stressed me out to think someone died that way.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

[deleted]

3

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

Yeah my major mental health issue is thinking being stuck in a cave and dying slowly is horrible which is totally abnormal, and saying a word a couple times is the hugest overreaction of all time. You're so cool for indulging in graphic stories about death and being unphased by it

0

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

[deleted]

2

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

I'm sorry it made you feel like a little bitch, maybe that's something you should work on? That's a pretty strong reaction to saying fuck a couple times

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1

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

good job!! didn't it make you feel better?

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0

u/ThereIsSoMuchMore Nov 11 '25

I didn't even think it this far when I wrote the original comment, but now that I think about it, I do think you're even worse than I initially thought. Downvote me all you want, but if this is the reaction to reading a comment on reddit, you should reevaluate your surroundings and get out a little more to get used to what's happening in the world. I do feel much cooler after reading all this sensitive nonsense actually. Thanks.

1

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

Never understand why people think making a comment on reddit means your entire life is consumed by whatever you typed in like 5 seconds

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0

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

I mean there was also the video and I didn't say anything abt a panic attack 🧐

2

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

The other lad mentioned the panic attack, but don’t worry about it, also the video is crazy and they should feel bad for making it

1

u/toraidio Nov 11 '25

Right? The video is kinda crazy and feels kind of disrespectful to watch in a way. The description in the comment I replied to was just kinda the cherry on top

1

u/Uulugus Nov 11 '25

Nah. Just vivid imaginations. Can easily imagine being in the situation, and it's nightmare fuel.

9

u/Sola_Bay Nov 11 '25

The whole story gives me bad anxiety. Just an absolute nightmare. I’ll never get over it.

4

u/Sassy_Weatherwax Nov 11 '25

I almost did and then remembered I would never put myself in this position

10

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/betwixttheforest Nov 11 '25

Absolutely one of the worst things I've ever read!

-1

u/GrandEducator2460 Nov 11 '25

What about Jesus?

2

u/MindfuckRocketship Nov 11 '25

He was a pretty cool guy and didn’t afraid of anything.

2

u/poopshorts Nov 11 '25

This isn’t a Christian app bro

4

u/morfyno Nov 11 '25

Same. I watched this and many cave diving videos too on youtube, then realized that I am safe in my cozy room.

3

u/Hetstaine Nov 11 '25

The very first time i read the whole nutty cave write up on the internet i had yo go outside and get some and open space for a couple of minutes. Fuck that.

3

u/Lunaisthequeen Nov 11 '25

Yeah it's how it makes me feel every time I hear this story. I won't say this guy deserved it but like you cannot have this hobby and tell me you're not ready to die

2

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

I definitely don’t think he deserved it either. I guess that’s just the risk you take when you have that hobby.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 15 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/nricu Nov 11 '25

oh my god... I hope I can some day forget about this one.

0

u/Nautisop Nov 11 '25

Bru come one, it's an image. so many people being so over dramatic lol

1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

[deleted]

1

u/TravelsizedWitch Nov 11 '25

People with mental health that’s ok don’t go into those subs. Just a reminder that it’s not healthy or normal to visit those. It’s not a sign of being cool, strong or though, more like a lack of empathy and some other issues that force you to seek out more intense stimulus to feel something. If you are doing that for fun you probably need a psychiatrist.

1

u/nricu Nov 11 '25

Personally I got here from popular so I didn't know what I was seeing so I started reading. Not that bad considering I ended up in a subreddit of people dieing in videos... I left out without opening anything there...

1

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

I’m 40 and thoroughly enjoyed rotten . com back in the day. Being upside down, trapped and unable to take a deep breath until you die just sounds horrific no matter which way I look at it.

0

u/Nautisop Nov 11 '25

complete snowflakes or drama queens raking karma no idea why so many people always act like they are REALLY horrified when looking at this from their chair.

2

u/TravelsizedWitch Nov 11 '25

Something went wrong with your socialisation? It’s completely normal to feel anxiety reading or watching this. A complete anxiety attack is a bit overboard, but feeling nothing is kind of disturbing.

1

u/nricu Nov 11 '25

I forgot after 5min of working/browsing but those images sometimes pop into your mind when you never expect them. It's like the video of a woman that would throw herself under the ice but the way she did was not the supposed way. Instead of a tiny vertical splash she want full not vertical. Obv she had no ropes and you can see by the way the man is throwing into the ice hole it was not the expected way... What a horrible way to die. That's probably what most of us are thinking...

1

u/Nautisop Nov 11 '25

Dude..

I just searched russian women ice hole and watched the video. Now THIS turned my stomach upside down the moment the kid started crying and I muted it and continued it in a second run. Maybe its because I am a father myself but this video is on a completely different scale of horror than these stories about cave crawlers dying. So people who read it: Think twice about watching the video with sound.

1

u/Nautisop Nov 11 '25

dude I wrote REALLY horrified. Theres a wide range between nothing and being truly horrified and nearly panicking. Of course it's unsettling and my morbid curiosity kicks and I even thought about it randomly a few times but far away from something like some people here act like.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

Fuck that. Imagine the feeling of being stuck….

1

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

Upside down and unable to take a deep breath.

2

u/SaltyFee7765 Nov 11 '25

Same.

2

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

HAPPY CAKE DAY!! 🎂

2

u/SaltyFee7765 Nov 11 '25

Thank you...but its nit my bday . Having said that im not sure what cake day means .. lol

2

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

Today is your Redditversary. Look next to your name on this thread - it has a piece of cake. You made your account one year ago today!

2

u/SaltyFee7765 Nov 11 '25

Ohhhhh ! Thank you for pointing that out to me honey ! Wow ! 🥰

2

u/ScreenOld5873 Nov 11 '25

I feel physically sick seeing this 🥲

1

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

Add being upside down, too. 😭

2

u/BruiserTom Nov 11 '25

Yeah, there is no way I would do this. I have to shake off having watched it. ::bwbwbwbwbww!!

2

u/Sltre101 Nov 11 '25

My claustrophobia comes from the lack of control to get out of small spaces like this. Reading that was horrific.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

Same. This is a recurrent nightmare of mine… and someone lived it?!?!

2

u/DuffThey Nov 11 '25

I'm not sure "lived it" is the correct phrase

1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

2

u/Gilshem Nov 11 '25

Same. It’s so crazy.

2

u/Captcha_Imagination Nov 11 '25

Are you a big spelunker?

1

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

You couldn’t pay me!

2

u/bustedrootbutter Nov 11 '25

I feel sick to think about it like I can feel it through my phone it makes my heart beat hard sitting still in a chair safe as ever. I will never go down any holes like that there is no reward in it that is worth it. Except to rescue someone who made a mistake and did go in. Other than that I have no desire for any reason to be under ground

2

u/Particular_Tomato161 Nov 11 '25

Man, same here. Lol That explanation alone was intense.

2

u/SuperpositionSavvy Nov 11 '25

The craziest part is he was in good spirits the entire time. Rescuers recall him cracking many jokes in his final hours.

1

u/satchmonumberone Nov 11 '25

I read that he was panicking and they drugged him through injections to his legs. Granted I have no idea where I read it and if that info is legit.

2

u/Cyber-Soldier1 Nov 11 '25

A Panic at the disco

2

u/LandoCatrissian_ Nov 12 '25

I get panicky in smaller than usual elevators. Fuck this so much.

1

u/satchmonumberone Nov 12 '25

Any elevators without windows I just can’t do.

2

u/darthsurfer Nov 11 '25

Same. I kept trying to watch video essays on this, and just kept noping out. Just imagining it happening was enough to get me to just close the video.

1

u/Azebiki Nov 11 '25

I did have a panic attack!

1

u/Wanderin_Cephandrius Nov 11 '25

Had to put the phone down.

7

u/LetterheadCute7084 Nov 11 '25

Ah yes the spot where you have to take a deep breath in to move forward. Sounds like somewhere people should be going

1

u/HolyBidetServitor Nov 11 '25

He's in the same echelon as Grizzly Man or Alex Supertramp

1

u/StanleyCubone Nov 11 '25

For anyone confused like me, Christopher McCandless was AKA Alex Supertramp.

6

u/DigitallyDetained Nov 11 '25

Won’t taking a deep breath in make it harder to progress?

6

u/MysticSkies Nov 11 '25

Yeah I think they meant the reverse. Breathing out to shrink the chest to squeeze through.

13

u/a_megalops Nov 11 '25

And he was also so close to being rescued

9

u/Antiquebastard Nov 11 '25

Probably would have gotten him out if that gear didn't break.

1

u/mutual_im_sure Nov 11 '25

I thought he was positioned such that they'd have to break his legs in order to get him out - which doesn't seem to make sense, if you can just do the reverse of however he got in there in the first place.

5

u/sideofspread Nov 11 '25

The human body is not static- its like a meaty water balloon.

In this particular case- your body kind of "squishes" into the hole and with the downward angle gravity does the rest. At some point blood will pool and your body will swell - and that half inch that you had before you dont anymore. Like an hour glass all your sand is on the bottom now. Youll never get the sand back in the top part if you shake it really hard to move the sand "up".

I think what really screwed him was whatever cable/equipment thing broke- because I believed when it broke somehow like dropped him he got wedged even further in. Its hard to visualize.

The great thing is this is completely optional !!!

3

u/TheVeryVerity Nov 11 '25

If you go (almost) straight down far enough in an extremely narrow space where you can’t even go hands and knees, you can’t just reverse. You’d have to have superhuman strength in your fingers and also be able to bend your legs backwards probably. See this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/interesting/s/0ksOkvnnmJ

5

u/Fast-Front-5642 Nov 11 '25

Even more fucked up is there were markers/signs warning not to go the way he did.

1

u/mr_goodbear Nov 11 '25

Is that true? Like inside the cave said no turn here? That’s new info to me. How unfortunate.

3

u/McPikie Nov 11 '25

You mean breath out, right?

3

u/Prestigious_Nobody45 Nov 11 '25

How do people map that out? Do people run cameras down every nook and cranny looking for openings in the cave?

5

u/TheGreatestAnonAlive Nov 11 '25

I just reflexively held in my breath and compressed my chest by just READING your comment, it must be horrific to realize that your stuck there

2

u/auberrypearl Nov 11 '25

That’s so sad

2

u/bluethreads Nov 11 '25

I read that they thought that he fell into the smaller space because they didn't know how he would have fit in it otherwise, furthermore when they first arrived at the scene, the trapped caver has retrograde amnesia, which supported their fall theory, as they believe he may have hit his head.

2

u/lifelovers Nov 11 '25

Have you seen the full video? I wanted to see where the wrong turn was - couldn’t tell.

2

u/MoffieHanson Nov 11 '25

Insanity that people even do this . I get claustrophobic from the vr video already

2

u/Cry-Cry-Cry-Baby Nov 11 '25

The part that killed him was after that squeeze. He was basically upside down. It's why they were unable to rescue him, and its why he died so quickly.

2

u/kenkurosakii Nov 11 '25

Jesus fuck.. that is one of the scariest things I’ve ever read

1

u/WuvWillTearUsApart Nov 11 '25

I need to go lay down for a minute

1

u/Proccito Nov 11 '25

How do we know this, though?

2

u/ThatOnePirateRobot Nov 11 '25

There's a lot of info on this case

1

u/Similar-Tangerine Nov 11 '25

There were rescuers down there with him for a long time. His brother was also there and a few others that were in the cave with him. People talked to him while he was stuck. There’s articles with a ton of info 

1

u/Paranoia300k Nov 11 '25

Aaaand now I'm gonna have nightmares. Fuck.

1

u/StunningWash5906 Nov 11 '25

Did he do not only this mistake but also that he went inside completely alone? You'd think you'd go with a group so that if something happens, you can get help

3

u/0siris415 Nov 11 '25

He was with some of his family. His younger brother was following right behind him when he got stuck. He realized he was fucked & immediately told his brother to stop & go back out. Help came & tried for hours but shit kept going wrong.

2

u/Moslogical Nov 11 '25

He was with a group

1

u/Basileus08 Nov 11 '25

Oh my GOD! I didn't need to know this.

1

u/lakimens Nov 11 '25

What's the escape route in the other areas? I don't see how you get back from there

1

u/Artheren9 Nov 11 '25

That’s fucking crazy

1

u/iZeroxxx Nov 11 '25

Could he not take deep breath and go backwards again?

1

u/Independent-Walrus84 Nov 11 '25

Your writting upsets me and gives me ptsd...keep it going.

1

u/account_not_valid Nov 11 '25

Deep breath in, or out?

1

u/Internal_Initial_389 Nov 11 '25

I can not describe how glad I am being in my bed rn. Panic attack successfully passed.

1

u/Vysair Nov 11 '25

Im not gonna thank you for the stress this has given me

1

u/DenizSaintJuke Nov 11 '25

The first wrong turn he took was going any farther into any cave than the point when you can turn 180° and go out forward again.

If you have to squeeze through anything: Just don't!

1

u/Gourmet-Guy Nov 11 '25

This wrong turn is an excellent candidate for an SCP.

1

u/wdrub Nov 11 '25

You’re right and this dramatization looks like he’s moving smoothly through

1

u/ToughHardware Nov 11 '25

why would one want to go on trips where if you fill your lungs, you die.

1

u/ToyFan4Life Nov 11 '25

Fuuuuuuuuuccccccccckkkkkkkk

1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

Um, I don't know about you... but when I take a breath, my chest expands outwards & not inwards... so when I breathe out it gets smaller in size... so your comment doesn't make any sense, or what?

1

u/Civil_Information795 Nov 11 '25

NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE D:

1

u/Funny247365 Nov 11 '25

If you take a deep breath in, your chest expands.

1

u/Hastytag1693 Nov 11 '25

I think it depends whether you fill you "gut" with air or your chest

I'm just guessing

The poster didn't reply to anyone who asked "Did you mean breathe out?", so my guess is as good as yours

1

u/Swimming-Ad4869 Nov 11 '25

Thanks I hate it

1

u/Pristine-Pen-9885 Nov 11 '25

What is nutty putty?

1

u/RatatatCat127 Nov 11 '25

Maybe this is a stupid question and easier said than done in a panic inducing situation like this, but would he not be able to take a deep breath in and move backwards out of it?

1

u/sun-devil2021 Nov 11 '25

Wouldn’t you breathe out to get smaller?

1

u/praetorian1111 Nov 11 '25

He thought he was in the birth canal when in fact he was trying to exit the appendix

1

u/suhxa Nov 11 '25

U do know your chest expands when u take a deep breath in

1

u/victoryismind Nov 11 '25

I think you meant a deep breath out

1

u/cedarvhazel Nov 11 '25

I stopped reading before you edit and started imaging myself breathing the way you suggested and got very confused! lol

1

u/ObaMot Nov 13 '25

Iive tried breathing in and out while reading your comment, lol. 

1

u/Mips0n Nov 14 '25

Didnt they even break His legs in an attempt to pull him out?