Our next story takes us to Flynns Lick, Tennessee,
where a cave diver has gone missing.
The missing diver became separated from his friends
after losing the guideline they followed during a dive
the previous day.
This search and rescue was captured
on a helicopter cam, a cell phone cam,
and an underwater helmet cam.
The man we see descending into the Earth
is Edd Sorenson, a world-renowned cave
diver known for his rescues of lost or trapped divers.
Edd follows the yellow navigational line
that guides the divers through the dark, narrow spaces that
make up the underwater cave.
He explores every possible space within the 400-foot cave
system, looking for the trapped diver.
The diver's friends have made several attempts to find him.
And Edd Sorenson is their last hope.
[suspenseful music]
After searching for over an hour,
Edd notices a shimmer on the water's surface,
indicating an air pocket.
OK.
In order to exit safely, the two men now
need to follow the white guideline that Edd put in place
as he searched the cave.
Outside of the cave, local authorities
and the lost diver's friends are anxiously
waiting for Edd to return.
[suspenseful music]
[cheering]
When all hope seemed lost, this hero
was able to literally find the light
at the end of the tunnel, or the end of the cave, in this case.
Joining me now, that hero, Edd Sorenson.
Thank you for joining us.
So let's start at the beginning.
Tell me about the call you got that day.
It was about 2:30 in the morning
when the call came in that Josh was missing in the cave.
And I think they did eight dives over 11 hours
and couldn't find him.
And would I be willing to come and look for him.
Now, you're very experienced in these rescues.
When you get the call that 11 hours has passed,
what's your reaction?
I was pretty much assured that I was
going to do a body recovery.
So you get into the water.
Now, take us through your search until you found him.
A couple of the divers that were
looking for him said the first part of the line we think
is intact.
But when you get in a ways, we may have broken the line.
And now I'm exploring a cave I've never been in in very,
very little visibility.
So I just kind of hugged one wall.
And then I saw this old line in a tangled-up mess.
So I searched up in the ceiling because usually a body will
float when they're out of gas.
And then I see the shimmering of what looks to be an air pocket.
I head up in there.
And then you can see from the video,
I'm looking right at him, and he's looking right at me.
So what's that moment like when you come up
and you see him actually alive?
Well, I don't know who was more surprised.
I think it was more me than him.
I never get emotional on these things.
But that was an incredible moment.
Edd, it's just remarkable to watch
you pull this man out safely.
I really appreciate you coming on here and sharing
your incredible story.
Thanks for having me.