An American student spent three days trapped in a cave after his caving club forgot about him.
Lukas Cavar, a 19-year-old physics student, was exploring Sullivan Cave in Bloomington, Indiana, with other members of Indiana University's Caving Club last Sunday.
He became separated from the group and was accidentally left behind by his fellow members, who padlocked the entrance gate to the cave.
He spent hours screaming for help at the gate and unsuccessfully tried to pick the lock with a paper clip.
"I was very confused and pretty scared," Mr Cavar told the Indiana Daily Student.
"It took me a little while to wrangle my emotions and sort of approach things analytically, sensibly, to come up with a game plan to survive."
Mr Cavar said he licked the damp cave walls to try to stay hydrated. He wrote about his struggles on his phone before its battery died, and unsuccessfully tried to Snapchat without reception.
One of his notes read, "Many salamanders all around. Possible food source? Spiders too, disconcerting. Killed as many as I could find in vicinity. Thinking of family."
"3:45 - missed all classes today. Surely somebody will have noticed by now," another note said.
Mr Cavar's friends noticed he didn't show up to his Monday physics class, and contacted the Caving Club on Tuesday.
Sixty hours after they unintentionally trapped him, the same members freed Mr Cavar, apologising profusely.
"You could tell they were pretty shaken up," Mr Cavar told the Indiana Daily Student.
"They did near kill me. I can't imagine what kind of guilt they felt."
His rescuers brought pasta and a Big Mac to the scene, both of which he happily devoured.
"Probably the best food I've had in my life," he said.
Newshub.
