Waiting for a Miracle . . .

It will be a miracle, if all twelve Thai boys and their football coach are rescued – but it has happened before.

Even though there are so many events happening around the world, there is only one that I want to write about – and no, it is not football. Although, I must admit, I did get rather excited during last Tuesday’s match, when England beat Columbia and won their first World Cup shoot-out. As the fans held their breath, knowing that England had not won on penalties for thirty years, the team broke the penalty curse and will play Sweden on Saturday.

However, this is not the story that is keeping many people awake at night and longing to hear some positive news. My thoughts are with the twelve young Thai boys and their football coach who, at the time of writing my article, were still trapped ina flooded cave in Thailand. British, Thai and many rescuers from all over the world, are in a race against time to save the stranded group before Thailand enters the worst part of the monsoon season, which will flood the deep caves even more.

It was like a miracle, when two British divers found the boys, who are aged 11-16, huddled together on a higher piece of ground. They had been taken into the caves by their coach to see how brave the boys were, when the water started pouring in. The relief was enormous, but the problems had just begun. How to get twelve Thai boys and their coach, who are stuck in a cave which is 4 km from the entrance, out again? The group, which had been trapped for nine days, were very weak and emaciated. The terrified boys can’t swim, so it was either a case of building up their strength and teaching them to swim and dive or to divert the water, which is currently rushing into the Tham Luang Cave system.

Any parent who has a son, as I do, can remember the time we sent our children off to a football training camp or a week with the boy scouts, hoping that they were going to come back safely. We can all put ourselves into the parents’ shoes and imagine the anguish that they are going through. They are waiting outside the entrance to the cave, praying for their children in the most dignified way – unlike many football fans that we have seen sobbing hysterically when their team loses, and has to drop out of the World Cup!

This whole scenario reminds us of the time back in October, 2010, when 33 Chilean miners were trapped in a collapsed mine, 622 metres below the ground, for two months. At that time, it was Austrian knowhow that played a vital role in the spectacular rescue. The Austrian company ÖSTUStettin, which specialises in construction above and below ground, had just finished a project near San Jose, Chile, and was able to be at the scene almost immediately. They provided the hoisting plant that hoisted the miners to freedom. However, during the ascent in the rescue capsule, the lives of the trapped miners depended on a 1000-metre long non-rotating rope made by the Austrian company Teufelberger, which manufactures special-purpose ropes and straps. It took 22 hours and 37 minutes to get all 33 men out and, even though it was in the middle of the night, I watched them being pulled out one by one. It was a miracle.

We are all hoping that this tragedy will have the same happy ending and these poor boys will be rescued one by one, and reunited with their families. One thing is for sure, when the whole experience is over and the excitement has died down, a film will be made about the Thai boys and their coach, as happened after the Chilean miners were rescued. I must say, the film "The 33" starring Antonio Banderas as one of the trapped miners, is not everyone’s cup of tea.