Best in the world...Britons leading the heroic mission
THE brave British cave divers at the forefront of the rescue bid are among the best in the world.
Rick Stanton and John Volanthen joined the search after the 13-strong group disappeared in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex on June 23.
The elite divers were called in by the Thai authorities.
Mr Stanton, a retired firefighter from Coventry, previously said his greatest achievement was helping rescue trapped British soldiers from a Mexican cave in 2004. Cave diving is a “hobby” he does voluntarily.
Mr Stanton, who is in his 50s, was made an MBE in 2012 for services to cave diving, and had said that the six soldiers “were trapped for nine days and we had to teach a few of them to dive through a considerable length of passage to get them out. It took about nine hours.”
He has said his toughest challenge was trying to rescue French diver Eric Establie in 2010, whose remains were discovered in the Ardeche Gorge, southern France in a 10-day mission.
Mr Volanthen was also Mr Stanton’s partner on the French rescue attempt.
Both men were awarded a bronze medal from the Royal Humane Society in recognition of the rescue attempt.
Mr Volanthen, an IT consultant in his 40s and based in Bristol, was also part of a British team with Mr Stanton which set a world record for a deep underwater cave dive in Spain in 2010.
The pair are members of the South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team, and
Mr Volanthen has described caving as requiring a cool head, saying: “Underwater, things happen slowly.”
He has said: “Panic and adrenaline are great in certain situations but not in cave diving. What you want is nice and boring.
“If something goes wrong 10 kilometres down an underwater tunnel, you usually have until your air runs out to find a solution or make your peace.”
Mr Volanthen’s mother Jill, 80, last week said his late father would have been proud of his brave son.
She said: “His father died nine months ago but he’d be so proud.
“John’s an incredibly private person who doesn’t like to talk about what he does, so I’m sure he’ll be amazed by how fascinated everyone is. But I know he’d like me to point out that he’s part of a team who have all worked together to make this possible. He really couldn’t have done it without them. “So they’re all heroes really.” Another expert diver, Robert Harper from Somerset, has flown to Thailand to help out.
Bill Whitehouse, British Cave Rescue Council vice-chair described the UK divers as the “A Team”.
He added: “They have been at the spearhead of making their way through, because they have the skills and the expertise to do it. One of the first things they had to do was lay a guideline so that they could get out again and so others could follow.”