Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Oxygen mask failed on cave boy I saved
Hero Brit diver shares danger of lad’s rescue
A BRITISH rescue diver has revealed they came perilously close to losing two of the boy footballers trapped 17 days in a cave.
Jason Mallinson and Chris Jewell took the last of the 12 lads through Thailand’s flooded Tham Luang cave.
Time was running out and heavy rain loomed as Jason in near-zero visibility, was about to save the final boy.
Jason was shocked to find the oxygen mask was too big for the lad, who was sedated with keta- mine for the rescue. He feared he could drown. He said: “We put it on him, really strapped down tight so his nose was flattened against his face and there was a big gap under his chin. We just couldn’t get it to seal.”
Jason quickly decided to use a replacement mask.
He said: “We didn’t have any more time and we knew this was the last option.”
He shielded the boy with his own body to get him out before he got hypothermia.
On the way out they found the 11th boy with Chris, who had become disorientated after losing grip of the guide rope.
Earlier Jason got the lads to write to their parents on his waterproof pad.
He said: “They never knew they were going to get out of there, it could have been the last message they ever gave to their parents.”
This month’s rescue mission saved all the boys but cost the life of a diver.