Thai cave diver plays down rescue role
BY ROD MINCHIN reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk ONE of the divers who helped to save 12 schoolboys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand has played down his heroics.
Rick Stanton denied he was a hero and said he was using a “very unique skill set”.
Rick and several other British divers had joined the rescue mission after the football team became trapped in an underground network in Chiang Rai province.
The retired fireman, from Coventry, and his colleague John Volanthen, from Bristol, were the first divers to reach the stranded group in the Luang Nang Non Cave.
They then launched a mission to rescue the boys and their coach, 25, which ended on Tuesday after an 18-day ordeal.
The rescue was particularly treacherous because the boys, aged 11 to 16, had to swim through tight spaces despite having no diving experience.
Speaking on his return to the UK, Rick said: “Are we heroes? No, we were just using a very unique skill set, which we normally use for our own interests and sometimes we are able to use that and give something back to the community.
“This was completely uncharted, unprecedented territory and nothing like this has been done. So, of course there were doubts.
“I knew that we had a good team, with good support from the Thai authorities, the caving community and rescue organisations, so we had the best we could do to make a plan work.”
Fellow divers Chris Jewell and Connor Roe, both from Somerset, Josh Bratchley, from Devon, Jim Warny, from County Clare, Ireland, Mike Clayton, from Yorkshire, and Gary Mitchell, from Wales, returned home yesterday.
Chris said: “It was a successful outcome and we played a part in an international effort.”