American scientist, Mark Dickey who fell ill more than 3,400 feet below the entrance of a cave in Turkey, has shared an emotional video thanking medics for saving his life.

Rescue teams are getting ready for an operation that could take three to four days to get him out.

The 40-year-old in a new footage said he was ‘very close to the edge’ as he thanked Turkish authorities for rescuing him.

The US researcher said, “The caving world is a really tight-knit group. It’s amazing to see how many people have responded on the surface.

“We’re still waiting for communications actually to reach down here. So right now it’s a day or two days worth of travel for information to get back and forth.

“I don’t quite know what’s happened. But I do know that the quick response of the Turkish government to get the medical supplies that I needed, in my opinion, saved my life.”

Mark Dickey became suddenly ill with stomach bleeding on Saturday during an expedition. He was with a handful of others in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains. He was left unable to leave the cave on his own, according to the Turkish Caving Federation.

“The skilled caver was in Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains when he became ill with a heavy cough and blood in his stools.

A friend of Dickey’s told NBC News that the scientist has told rescue workers that he wants to climb out himself, something that is the “underground equivalent of climbing Mount Everest.”

The friend added that Mark Dickey had been semi-conscious underground for around three days and couldn’t eat.”