I’m not a hero, says British cave rescuer

DIVER HOPES FOR REUNION

ONE of the divers who helped to save 12 schoolboys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand played down his heroics as he returned to Britain.

Rick Stanton denied he was a hero and said he was using a “very unique skill set” to “give something back to the community”.

Mr Stanton, right, and several other British divers joined the 18-day rescue mission after the football team became trapped in an underground network in Chiang Rai province following monsoon rains. The retired fireman, from Coventry, and his colleague, John Volanthen, from Bristol, were the first to reach the stranded group in the Luang Nang Non Cave. The operation claimed the life of Thai navy diver Saman Kunan, who died while replenishing oxygen canisters. The rescue was particularly treacherous because the boys, aged 11 to 16, had to swim through tight spaces despite having no previous diving experience. Speaking on his return to the UK, Mr Stanton said: “I will see them sometime in the future. It will be good to get closure. Are we heroes? No, we were just using a very unique skill set, which we normally use for our own interests.”