Thailand cave rescue: Boys, coach discharged nearly a month after first going missing

THAILAND - The 12 members of a youth soccer team and their coach who spent more than two weeks trapped underground in a flooded cave network in northern Thailand have appeared in public for the first time since their ordeal. The boys, who were discharged from hospital yesterday, appeared in front of the world’s media at a specially arranged press conference in Chiang Rai. Dressed in matching team shirts, the boys and their coach appeared happy and relaxed as they took their place on a stage alongside their doctors.

The boys, all members of the Wild Boars junior soccer team, introduced themselves to the media, shared their nicknames and told the audience what position they played on the team. Sitting beside them were the Thai Navy SEALs who stayed inside the cave with them once they were found. Ardoon Sam-aon, the boy who responded in English to the first British diver who found them, shared the story of the moment they realized help was finally coming. He thought it was in the evening, though he couldn’t be sure. The group was digging inside the cave, looking for possible exits, when he thought he heard the voices of people talking. His coach, Ekkapol Ake Chanthawong, told the group to stay quiet. It was at that moment that they realized it was real people. When the divers breached the surface, Ardoon said he was so shocked, all he could think to say was “hello.” The boys said they went inside the cave because they had never been there, and wanted to learn what was inside. Authorities said that more than 100 questions were sent in from members of the media, though only a handful were selected. All 12 players and their coach had been under close supervision at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital, near the border with Myanmar, since they were rescued from the cave on July 10. The dramatic mission to save the group captured the world’s attention, with heads of state, celebrities and even soccer stars at the World Cup in Russia sending good wishes and messages of hope to the boys and the team of divers and rescue experts.

The boys disappeared June 23 after going inside the sprawling Tham Luang cave network through a small entrance which was soon flooded by seasonal monsoon rains. Friends said they knew the dangers and that the caves were considered off-limits at this time of year.

They were found nearly two weeks after disappearing, having survived by drinking the water dripping off the caves roof that is naturally filtered. But a happy ending was far from assured. Rising waters and plummeting oxygen levels convinced rescue workers that something needed to be done sooner rather than later, despite the fact that expert divers said the cave posed some of the toughest conditions they’d ever faced. (CNN)