Thai teens’ cave nightmare
The world watched in horror as rescuers struggled to free young soccer players and their coach from their watery ordeal in a flooded cave
THERE must have been times when they wondered if they’d ever get out of the darkness. For 10 days the 12 boys and their coach crouched on the muddy ledge in the cave, cold and hungry, with only one another for company. And then just when it must surely have started to feel as if help would never arrive, a light cut through the darkness. At last someone had come.
The world cheered when news broke that British cave divers Rick Stanton (56) and John Volanthen (47) had found the missing members of the Moo Pa (“Wild Boars”) soccer academy team more than 5km inside the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand.
But though there was relief all round that the boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach were alive, rescuers faced another big challenge: how to get the emaciated group – who’d spent almost a fortnight living on giant slugs and dirty water after being trapped by a flash flood – out of the cave.
The big problem was that few of them could swim let alone dive and several of the cave tunnels were completely submerged in water.
While the eyes of the world remained glued, more than 1 000 rescuers, including experts from seven countries, converged on the area, making it the biggest cave rescue ever. Even space billionaire Elon Musk sent a team to help.
Not since the 2010 accident at the San José Mine, which left 33 Chilean miners trapped 700m underground for 69 days, has a case presented such a challenge.
Even for experienced divers it was difficult. As rescuers scrambled to put a plan in place, disaster struck when a former Thai navy Seal, Saman Kunan (38), died of asphyxiation due to complications during a dive in the cave.
This made the authorities even more cautious. While navy Seals remained stationed with the boys in the cave, teaching them how to swim and feeding them high-protein meals to build their strength, industrial pumps were brought in to try to extract as much water as possible in the hope that the boys would simply be able to walk out.
But with monsoon season in full swing it became a race against the weather. As more rain started to fall rescuers simply couldn’t afford to wait any longer – they knew if the cave flooded any further it could take months to get the boys out.
With 35 doctors and medics on standby a team of 18 divers went into the cave. On their first dive they focused on rescuing four of the sickest boys – no small feat since a kilometre of the rescue route was completely flooded so diving was unavoidable. The route also included a narrow 38cm-wide space, known as a “choke point”, which the group had to squeeze through (see graphic right).
On top of all this in parts of the cave the water was so muddy visibility was almost zero.
“It’s like swimming through cold coffee,” one rescuer says.
But with two divers dedicated to each boy, they were in good hands. When they were finally clear of all the watery patches each of the divers hugged the boys. From there it was an easy walk to the mouth of the cave where ambulances were waiting to rush the kids to hospital in Chiang Rai, where an entire wing had been set aside for their care.
Although in serious condition after the ordeal, the boys were reportedly relieved to be out. When they woke up the next morning they requested pad kra pao for breakfast – a popular dish of spicy basil and meat with rice. M EANWHILE the divers who’d rescued them were retracing their steps back into the cave to remove the other boys in small groups. At the time of going to print four more boys had been evacuated successfully.
But as the world celebrated many wondered how easy it will be for the boys to go back to their lives – surely spending more than two weeks trapped in a cave must leave deep psychological scars?
To this day some of the Chilean miners are still experiencing harrowing flashbacks to their time spent underground.
“Long term, there will be things that
haunt them,” says Professor Alexander McFarlane, head of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide in Australia. “When they can reflect on the risks, getting reminders of the dark or being trapped can be intensely anxiety provoking. Even feelings of being hungry or thirsty can make them worry again and be fearful.”
But generally experts say children are often more resilient than adults. In the cave there was a strong sense of camaraderie and the boys seemed in goodspirits – and ultimately this might help them bounce back more quickly.
Experts reckon it’s thanks to their 900m The soccer team sheltered here. coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, that the mood was so good. He accompanied them into the cave after soccer practice, ignoring the sign that warned them to stay out because of the risk of flooding.
When help finally arrived Ekapol sent a letter back with navy divers.
“I promise I’ll care for the kids as best as possible. I want to apologise to the parents,” he wrote.
McFarlane says for the boys who are healthy the best thing that medics can do is reunite them with their families as fast as possible.
“When they get out, the idea people need acute counselling is nonsense. Chamber under almost 5m of water. 3km 2,5km 38cm They just need to feel safe and be reunited with their parents. They need to know all is well,” he says.
Pheeraphat Sompiengjai’s family know just what he needs to cheer him up. When he left for soccer training on that ill-fated day his sister, Phunphatsa, was putting the finishing touches to a SpongeBob SquarePants cake. It was his 16th birthday and there was a big celebration planned. When he failed to return home she refused to give up hope.
“The cake is in the fridge,” she says. “I kept it there to surprise him.” Entrance