‘We did something that nobody thought possible’

“Everyone is safe.”

With those three words posted on Facebook the daring rescue mission to extricate 12 boys and their soccer coach from the treacherous confines of a flooded cave in Thailand was complete — an 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of diver Saman Gunan.

Thailand’s Navy Seals celebrated the feat with a post that read: “All the 13 Wild Boars are now out of the cave. We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what.”

But there was a sad postscript: The last member of the rescue team to leave the cave, Australian doctor Richard Harris, discovered his father had died. The medic and three Seal divers who stayed with the trapped boys in their cramped, dry refuge after they were found were the last out.

. People on the street cheered and clapped when ambulances ferrying the last boys arrived at a hospital in Chiang Rai.

Amporn Sriwichai, an aunt of rescued coach Ekkapol Chantawong, was ecstatic. “I just want to hug him and tell him that I missed him.”

Each of the boys was guided out by a pair of divers in the three-day high-stakes operation. The boys were given an anti-anxiety medication to help with their perilous removal. The

Guardian reported that water pumps failed just hours after the last boy had been evacuated.

Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, a public health inspector, said one member of the final group had a slight lung infection. Two of the first group had a lung infection as well.

“We did something nobody thought possible,” said acting Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn, leader of the rescue effort.