The agonising moment that Chris lost his grip on the vital ‘dive line’

CHRIS Jewell revealed the most serious incident of the operation was on the final day in which he lost his grip on the ‘dive line’ – the only guide to safety for the divers.

As he switched hands, gripping the boy’s buoyancy jacket, he accidentally let go of the dive line which pinged away into the murky depths.

‘I thought, “Ah, bit of a problem, but I’ll just reach up for it” – so I was sweeping with my arms to pick up the dive line but could not find it.’

His heart thumping, he cast around in the silty waters for about four minutes. He suddenly seized upon an electrical cable and thought it would lead him toward safety and Chamber 3, but a few minutes later, he bobbed to the surface in an unfamiliar cavern. eventually, he realised he had returned to Chamber 4 via a side passage. He made the boy comfortable out of the water and waited for Jason Mallinson – bringing up the rear with the last boy – to arrive. Mallinson continued on, and Jewell waited with his boy for Australian doctor Richard Harris to come through the tunnel. Dr Harris then took the boy, with Jewell bringing up the rear. Said Jewell: ‘If you never find that line again, the outcome will never be good. we were lucky.’