British divers return from Thailand - and tell how they feared they would never get the boys out alive

Alexandra Richards13 July 2018

The British divers who found the Thai boys and their football coach who were trapped in a flooded cave have revealed they had doubts over whether they would get the boys out alive.

Rick Stanton was among the first divers to discover the missing boys more than a week after they went missing on June 23, it then took a further week to successfully get the boys out of the Tham Luang cave complex.

During a news conference as they flew back to the UK today, Mr Stanton revealed that there were moments he feared that it would be an impossible mission.

“This was uncharted, unprecedented territory. Nothing like this has been done so of course there were doubts.

British cave divers, Rick Stanton, Chris Jewell, and Chairman of the British Cave Rescue Council Peter Dennis speak to the media at a news conference at Heathrow Airport
REUTERS

“But I knew we had a good team we had good support from the Thai Authority and the national caving community and rescue organisation so we had the best we could do to make a plan work.”

Speaking about the moment the boys were discovered, Mr Stanton said he felt mixed emotions.

“Initially (I felt) excitement, relief that they were still alive.

“As they were coming down the slope we were counting them until they got to 13, unbelievable, we gave them some extra light, they still had light and they looked in reasonably good health.

“But when we departed all we could think about was how are we going to get them out, so there was relief tempered with uncertainty.”

Rick Stanton, Chris Jewell, Connor Roe, Josh Bratchley, Jim Warny, Mike Clayton and Gary Mitchell, are joined by Chairman of the British Cave Rescue Council Peter Dennis recall the Thailand cave rescue mission
REUTERS

There have been calls for Mr Stanton and John Volanthen, the diver who was with him when he discovered the children, to be honoured for the role they played in the successful rescue mission.

Speaking to press after he touched down in Heathrow airport on Thursday , Mr Volanthen said: “We were very pleased and we were very relieved that they were all alive but I think at that point we realised the enormity of the situation and that's perhaps why it took a while to get them all out”

He added: “We are not heroes. What we do is very calculating, very calm. It's quite the opposite."

Hero diver: John Volanthen returns to the UK after the cave rescue in Thailand
BBC

Mr Volanthen also paid tribute to Thai navy diver Saman Kunan, who died while replenishing oxygen canisters, saying his death brought a "bittersweet" taste to an otherwise "excellent" operation.

The final four boys and their 25-year-old coach were brought to safety on Tuesday, having entered the network for exploration before it became flooded by monsoon rains.

Thailand Cave Rescue - In pictures

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The first footage of the boys, aged 11 to 16, convalescing in hospital in the northern city of Chiang Rai emerged on Wednesday, with some, wearing face masks and hospital gowns, giving peace signs for the camera.

Health officials said the boys would spend at least a week in hospital and around 30 days recovering at home following more than two weeks trapped inside the flooded cave.

Families of the 12 boys have been allowed to visit them. Some have been able to see the boys through a glass panel, others have been allowed closer, but had to wear protective suits and stand two metres away.

The Tham Luang cave complex will remain closed to the public for at least six months, said Chongklai Worapongsathorn, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

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