Man who died 'worst possible death' while stuck upside down in cave had heartbreaking final words

A US man who died from the 'worst possible death' had some heartbreaking final words.

At just 26 years old, John Edward Jones was really in the prime of his life, but a true tragedy well and truly struck.

On 24 November 2009, John and his family decided to explore the Nutty Putty Cave.

Such a venture was fairly common, with John seen as an adventurer by his nearest and dearest.

So, heading to the cave situated southwest of Utah Lake and around 55 miles from Salt Lake City, was not exactly uncommon.

John and the rest of the family set out on their expedition a few days before Thanksgiving, but little did they know they would return without the young dad.

The tragedy occurred as John went out to explore the cave alongside his brother Josh.

However, as he tried to explore a part of the cave known as the 'Birth Canal,' John - who was six feet tall and weighed 200 pounds - ended up being stuck head first.

The dad had taken a wrong turn while exploring and found himself stuck unmapped section of the cave.

John ended up wedged around 400 feet from the cave's entrance and was left unable to turn around - the gap measuring just 10 inches by 18 inches.

Jones family

His brother Josh was the first person to find John stuck in the cave and he tried to pull him free, but John slipped even further into the enclosed space, his arms now by his side.

Unable to move John any further, Josh said a prayer: "Guide us as we work through this."

"Save me for my wife and kids," the desperate father added.

Josh then wriggled back out the cave to go get help, bringing back equipment, supplies and consulting with other people to try and ease John out of the confined space.

Over 100 people were involved in the rescue efforts to free John from the cave.

Despite the team's best efforts, resolving to try and use ropes and a pulley system to get the dad out - with the pulley system later failing - the downward angle John was trapped in took an extreme toll on his body.

Jones Family Handout

Speaking to rescuers, John said: "I'm going to die right here. I'm not going to come out of here, am I?"

He then asked after one of the rescuers, Ryan Shurtz, who had been badly hurt after a metal carabiner slammed into his face.

John said: "Is he OK? I think he's really hurt bad."

After that John fell silent, later falling unconscious.

John sadly passed away on the evening of 25 November after 28 hours of rescue efforts. His cause of death resolved as being a result of a cardiac arrest.