Taphophobia (or Taphephobia) is the irrational fear of being buried alive. Let's be real for a moment, being underground in any capacity is uncomfortable. Personally, unless it's a basement I am perfectly happy keeping myself above ground.

That's why when I hear about people who go "caving", or exploring caves for fun, I wonder if they are "all there" upstairs.

That nightmare scenario of being trapped underground became a reality for one member of the Indiana University Caving Club.

Lukas Cavar, 19, was on a field trip with a number of members from the club when he became separated from the rest of the group while they were underground. After making his way back to the entrance of the cave he realized that he had been forgotten there. The rest of his club had left him behind, locking the cave's security gate.

After realizing he was trapped Lukas admitted that it took him a little while to gather his thoughts and start acting rationally. "I was very confused and pretty scared," he told the Indiana Daily Student.

He had to come up with a strategy to survive until someone realized he was missing and came back for him. He stayed close to the entrance and licked moisture off the cave walls in order to remain hydrated. He was trapped in there for three days.

Lukas even resorted to writing goodbye messages to his loved ones on his phone so that they could read them if he died before he was found.

The President of the caving club eventually realized the error that had been made and went back to the cave to retrieve Lukas. After getting Lukas back and making sure he was healthy the club released a statement saying that there had been a serious "failure in leadership".  

Would you ever go underground to explore in the darkness of the abyss?