How could he fall 984 feet down and live? Was he all the way down to the bottom? Inquiring minds want to know (mine).
For many people, the 984 foot fall alone would be enough to trigger a heart attack. Since he was ‘experienced’, he likely had taken deep spills before. He must have had some device still allowing for communication as he was found, even with his spine and other parts of the body wrecked.
Spelunking: Cave exploration for fun and fitness.
Caving: Cave exploration for collection of scientific data.
To answer that question: My guess is he fell into a body of water deep enough to splash w/o smacking against a stone floor.
Possibly not a vertical drop but more of a steep angled descent with a lot of sliding and bouncing into things.