THE MOST AMAZING STORY OF 2018: Rescue of the 12 Wild Boars and coach in Thailand

The most amazing story of 2018 is the rescue of 12 members and assistant coach of the Wild Boars soccer team in Thailand.  No amount of prose can replace the magic of reality.  Seventeen days of imminent tragedy that captured the imagination of humanity.  Click on Thai Cave Rescue, a 53m 34s NOVA special on PBS.  But you need to be a member.

On June 23 this past summer, twelve members of this group from Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, ages 11 to 17, with their 25-year old assistant coach, Ekkapol Ake Chantawong, entered Tham Luang Nang Non cave.  This was nothing new to them, and because of something to do with initiation rites, they wanted to explore deeper to write their names on the wall.  Hmmm....  There was a warning sign, but the danger period was from July to November.  Unfortunately, heavy rain fell, trapping them inside.

Head coach Nopparat Khanthawong happened to check his phone at 7PM and found twenty missed calls from parents of his team.  With help from another assistant coach, they found one team member who had not gone on this outing, and he mentioned that the others went to that cave.  Bicycles and bags were found at the entrance.  

Luckily, a British caver, Vern Unsworth, who lived in Chiang Rai and knew the cave well was scheduled to make a solo venture on June 24.  He was contacted, and advised the Thai government to request assistance from the British Cave Rescue Council. That set in motion a process where Thai Navy SEAL divers arrived on the 25th, followed, over time by 10,000 people, including over 100 divers from 100 governmental agencies, 900 police officers, 2,000 soldiers, ten police helicopters, seven police ambulances and 700 diving cylinders.  Classmates made a thousand cranes and prayed for their safe return.  Rescuers came from Thailand, Australia, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, India, Israel, Japan, Laos, Netherlands, Russia Germany, Myanmar, the Phillipines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden France and the USA.  Elon Musk offered to design kid-sized submarines, and there was an embarrassing flap between Unsworth and Musk.

Conditions were nearly impossible, but here was an example of the world working together for a common cause and succeeding, for ten days later, on July 2, the boys were found, 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave and half a mile from the surface.  They were malnourished, but coach Ake was once a Buddhist monk, and was able to teach the boys to meditate, which could well have been why they survived, and, apparently, without long-term psychological problems.

But the relief of finding them alive was overwhelmed by the task to bring them out.  Experienced divers took six hours against the current to get there from the entrance.  Many of the boys could not swim.  

One worry was that the oxygen level was dropping, and was down to 15% by July 6, where normal functioning begins to drop at 19.5% oxygen.  They could not find a way to pump oxygen into that space, and more rain was coming, for the monsoon season had begun, and could have lasted into November.  One of the rescuers, a former SEAL, died in the attempt on that day.  

Drilling down to the location was difficult and there was no other way out.  Thus a decision was made to sedate the boys, place them in a wet suit with full face mask, and bring each out linked to professional divers from July 8.  Here is a 2-hour CBS report for that day.  They were supported by 90 divers from throughout the world at various points from the trapped site to entrance, with drag stretchers in a daisy chain.

It took three days, with the coach as the last person.  They lost an average of 4.4 pounds, but, save for some pneumonia, they were in good condition.  They were all only fed rice porridge for ten days.

Coach Ek apologized, but no parent or governmental official blamed him for the ordeal.  In fact, he is considered to be a hero.

While the team was invited to the World Cup final, their hospitalization period made this impossible.  Three of the members and the coach Ek were stateless, but all four were granted Thai citizenship.    The British Cave Rescue team were given the Pride O Britain 2018 award and the 12 members from Thailand attended the ceremony in London.  Also amazingly, there appears to be no negative mental effects.  No nightmares.  They all seem to be normal.  The cave is now a living museum.  

Of course there will be a film, or two, and one is already called The Cave, by Thai-Irish filmaker Tom Waller, using as many of the rescuers as possible.

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