V for victory ... f irst pictures of the lucky lads
GRINNING and making victory signs, these are the young Thai footballers reunited in hospital.
The first pictures of the schoolboys since their release shows them wearing green surgical masks as they recover in a pristine isolation ward.
The last four boys and their coach, who had been trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex for 18 days, were carried out on stretchers on Tuesday at the end of a ‘miracle’ three-day operation nicknamed ‘Mission Impossible’.
Although the 12 boys look thin as they recover in a hospital in the city of Chiang Rai, in northern Thailand, they do not appear shell-shocked despite their ordeal inside a dank cave, followed by a risky rescue operation.
Footage released by the Thai government shows some parents weeping and waving to the boys from the other side of the isolation windows.
The youngest boy, 11, appears asleep under a crisp white sheet while others, including their 25-year-old coach Ekaphol Chantawong, sit in bed. Nurses are seen chatting with the boys and they respond with the customary Thai sign of respect – hands pressed together while bowing the head.
Parents of the first eight boys freed have been able to visit them but were banned from hugs and had to wear protective suits and stand 7ft away as a precaution. Health officials are worried about the possibility of infections picked up in the cave.
One from the last group rescued on Tuesday had a lung infection.
The footage was shown during a press conference at which the rescue chief, Narongsak Osottanakorn said he believed the Wild Boar FC players would ‘grow up to be good citizens’, and added that they are ‘healthy and strong’.
‘We don’t see the children as at fault or as heroes,’ he said. ‘They are children being children, it was an accident.’
The 12 boys and their coach lost an average of 4lb 6oz each during their ordeal, but were generally in good condition and showed no signs of stress, a health official said.
Hospital director Chaiwetch Thanapaisal said the boys would have to stay in hospital for up to ten days. They would then need to recuperate at home for 30 days.
Thai Navy SEAL commander Rear Admiral Apakorn Youkongkae revealed that the order in which the 12 boys were rescued was decided by their coach, not on the basis of getting the weakest out first, as had previously been reported. He did not know why the coach had chosen the order he did.