Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
It's 8:30 p.m. on July 6th and the rain is back, making pattering sounds on the Park Ranger station outside the Tam Luang cave. But inside, Major General Hodges, head of the American Special Ops Group, hardly notices. He's too busy looking over the whiteboard and maps spread across a series of folding tables. It details the plans for an elaborate rescue, the riskiest and most complex ever attempted in cave diving history.
It's been 14 days since 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing inside the cave. Now, oxygen levels are running low, and there are monsoons in the forecast. If they stand a chance of getting them out, they need to act now. But before Hodges can set the plan in motion, he needs to get permission from the Thai government. Thai government is the only government in the world
TIE officials are on their way now. If they agree, they'll recommend the plan to the TIE Prime Minister and the King for final approval. Hodges knows this mission is the boys' only chance at survival. This meeting has to go well. This is it, boys. Remember, some of this information will be new to them. We need to be crystal clear. There is no other option.
Hodges and his team stand up as the minister enters with his entourage. It includes officers of the King's Guard, the head of the Thai Navy SEALs, and Governor Naronsak, who heads up the region. Their faces are serious and tired, but their eyes are alert. The minister is a serious man with rimless glasses. He looks like a cross between a math professor and a business executive. He speaks firmly.
No phones, no leaks. It's not a request. It's a command. When everyone is settled, the minister speaks again. "Well, Major Hodges, I'm here. Now, tell me why we would take the risk of diving the boys out when we can try to keep them alive by waiting out the rain." Hodges' voice is calm as he relays the facts.
"'Minister, the conditions in the cave are getting worse. "'We can't keep the boys alive in the cave through the rains. "'But we have a plan. We think we can dive them out. "'It's a high-risk operation with a low chance of success, "'but this is the best plan we've got.'" The room is quiet, faces grim, and then Governor Naronsak speaks. "'Major Hodges, how would you define success? "'Success, in my opinion, is if we can get just one child back to his parents.'"
He lets his answer sink in, then continues. Minister, we'd like to formally ask the Thai government for permission to proceed. The tension is thick as the room waits for the minister to speak. Hodges knows this is an incredibly difficult decision. The government has told the world the only acceptable risk is no risk at all.
If anything goes wrong, the minister will likely lose his career. And worse, he'll have to live with a decision that led to the death of several young boys. Finally, he looks up. I will need to take this to the prime minister, but you may continue with your preparations. Hodges allows himself a small smile. Thank you, sir. On his way out the door, the minister turns back. Nobody in the press can know about this until it's done. Nobody. Hodges nods.
One day later, the king and the prime minister approve the mission. Hodges finally has the green light he's been waiting for. Now it's up to an international team of rescuers to bring the boys home. In our fast-paced, screen-filled world, it can be all too easy to lose that sense of imagination and wonder. If you're looking for new ways to ignite your creativity and open your mind to fresh perspectives, then let Audible be your guide. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, or any genre you love,
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From Wondery, I'm Mike Corey, and this is Against the Odds. In our last episode, rescuers from around the world frantically worked on solutions to get 12 boys and their soccer coach out of a cave. The Thai command and the international cave divers at the scene couldn't agree on a plan,
Now, the Minister of the Interior has given the green light to a highly complex operation to dive the boys out. What started as a search party of 30 park rangers and the boys' parents has become one of the most high-profile rescues in history. This is the fourth and final episode, Chamber Nine.
It's Saturday morning, July 7th. Master Sergeant Derek Anderson of the American Special Ops Group stands at the side of a pool looking at a stopwatch. Three, two, one.
He watches a small group of Thai Navy SEALs submerge underwater, each holding a child. Anderson is Major Hodge's right-hand man. He's a nuts and bolts kind of guy who's all about precision. Now his skills are being put to the test. He has just 24 hours to help prep the rescue of the 12 boys and their soccer coach from the Tam Luang cave.
But right now, he just hopes the underwater masks will fit the boys' faces, which is why he reached out to schoolmates of the Wild Boars soccer team to test them. They'll need to submerge for several minutes to make sure there is no seepage from the sides, or it could be fatal. If it doesn't work, they're back to square one.
As Anderson watches the boys through the blurry turquoise water, he visualizes the mission ahead. They've run over it a hundred times on paper, and every step has to be exact. There is a plan B and plan C at every juncture. They've calculated all possible risks, but the reality is that no one knows what will happen because no one has ever done anything like this before. That's time. Pull them up.
When the seals emerge with the kids, they give him the thumbs up. Four of the masks stayed watertight. But Anderson knows that miles of underwater cave diving is different from a dip in a recreational pool. With the conditions of the cave and the weakened state of the boys, a mask leak is just one of the dozen ways these boys could die. Back at camp, Dr. Richard "Harry" Harris packs up his gear and suits up for his first dive into the Tam Luang cave.
Dr. Harris is unique among cave divers. He not only has rescue experience, but he also has medical training in anesthesiology. He's known Rick Stanton for over a decade, and when Rick reached out via text, he wasn't surprised. The Boys in the Cave story is all over the news. He was, however, surprised at Rick's request.
Harris doesn't need to think. He got into medicine to save people. He wants no part of any operation that involves dead children. He quickly fires back. Not an option.
He assumed the matter was over until Rick texted again. If the boys aren't sedated, they aren't coming out at all. One day later, Harris was on a 12-hour flight to Chiang Rai. The task is too big to take on alone, so he's brought along another Aussie diver, Craig Challen. Craig Challen is a veterinarian with cave rescue experience. He's also a stellar technical diver.
Harris will need his assistance. After all, there's no protocol for hauling sedated children through miles of underwater chambers and passages. The plan is to use a cocktail of ketamine and atropine to put the boys out. Ketamine is a tranquilizer frequently used in pediatrics. Atropine is a drug that would be given to the boys to dry up their saliva so they don't choke on it.
Harris and Challen plan to examine the boys to see just how much tranquilizer each will need. Meanwhile, in the darkness of Chamber 9, Dr. Bock asks the boys and their coach if they've reached a decision. "Boys, do you want to wait out the monsoons or do you want rescuers to dive you out?" Without exception, the boys announce they want to be rescued. They are ready to leave. They miss their families and school.
Coach Ake chuckles. He never thought he'd hear the boys say they missed their classes. Ake wants to go home too. He just hopes the parents will forgive him for taking their children into the cave. When Ake hears what is the now familiar sound of divers surfacing, he flips on the flashlight, pointing it into the murky water to see two unfamiliar faces. One of them shouts, "Hello, I'm Dr. Harris, and this is Craig Challen. We're here to examine the boys."
We'll be diving them out tomorrow. Dr. Bach translates, and the boys begin to cheer. Harris explains to Dr. Bach that the people planning the rescue mission want the healthiest boys out first. They think the boys' likeliest to survive should be the priority. But he also knows the boys trust their coach more than anyone here. He tells Coach Ake it's up to him to decide. Talk about it overnight with the boys, he tells Bach.
Before they leave, the Australian divers hand out letters from the parents. The messages are filled with encouragement and love. To the oldest boy in the group, Knight, who missed his 16th birthday party. Dear Knight, Dad and Mom are waiting to throw you your birthday party. Please stay healthy and get out of there soon. To the refugee, Abdul, who acted as a translator until Dr. Bach arrived.
Adul, your dad and your mom want to see your face. We're praying for you and your friends and hoping to see you soon. When you get out of the cave, please thank all the rescuers. Have faith in God. And to the littlest boy, Titan, who never imagined his first adventure into the cave would last this long. Titan, I'm waiting for you in front of the cave. You have to make it. I believe in you.
Night looks up. Coach Ake may always feel responsible, but hearing this is a weight off his shoulders.
when the divers duck below the water to head back. Ake sits in the corner, thinking about the rescue. What order should he send the boys out? The rescuers said they want the boys who are the healthiest to go first. It makes sense, but how can he ever explain this to the children without the weaker ones panicking? Finally, he gathers them together and gives them a practical reason for his choice.
"'Wild boars, as you know, the rescuers will be here tomorrow. "'You'll be home very soon, but we need to choose an order "'because we can't all go at once. "'So here is what I've decided. "'The boys who live far away will go first, "'since you have the furthest to pedal on your bikes to get home. "'The boys still think that when they get out, "'they'll just bike back to their houses. "'None of them have any idea that outside the cave, "'hundreds of people from across the globe are waiting.'"
They also don't know if the riskiest cave dive rescue ever undertaken is about to begin in less than 24 hours. Dawn breaks early on the morning of July 8th and the gray clouds roll off the tops of the mountains down the tropical valley below. Rick Stanton and John Volenthen make their way across camp, cups of hot coffee in hand. Rick looks at John. "How'd you sleep?" John blows on his cup.
Probably about as good as you. I may need a few more of these. The camp is quiet for a Sunday. It's like the whole place senses something different, as if they're listening for whispers from the mountain that will tell them what fate has in store. Inside the ranger station, Rick and John settle into their seats for the final briefing by Major Hodges, head of the special ops team.
The mission will start at the entrance of the cave where a team of 13 divers will make their way to chamber 3. From there, Dr. Harris, the anesthesiologist, will dive ahead into chamber 9 where he will sedate the boys one by one. Then he will zip tie their hands and feet so the boys can't move if they wake up. The four main divers, including Rick Stanton and John Volenthen, will dive to chamber 9 to pick up one child at a time.
Once a boy has reached chamber 8, the next diver will go. There will be three support divers along the way from chambers 3 to 8 to assist as needed with extra air tanks. Additional divers will wait in chambers 7, 6 and 5 with skedcos. Skedcos are flexible plastic stretchers that they'll wrap around the unconscious kids like a cocoon to help shuttle the weight and maneuver through difficult passages.
The chambers throughout the cave will function like rest stops along the way. Once a diver and a boy reach chamber three, they'll be close to home free. There, the Thai Navy SEALs and a team of American medics will assist them through one more shorter dive out to the entrance of the cave, where ambulances will be waiting to take the boys to the hospital.
It will take 8 to 11 hours for them to dive each boy out. Then the divers will rest overnight. The operation will require 3 or 4 days. There will be no communication during the mission. Radio signals don't reach past chamber 3. Once the mission begins, there will be no turning back.
When the briefing breaks up, all the divers split off for a meeting with Dr. Harris, the anesthesiologist tasked with sedating the boys. Rick's glad to see his old friend. How's it going? How are the boys? Not bad. A little thin, but in good spirits overall. They're excited to get out.
Rick looks down at the folding table behind Harris. It's covered with small packs of syringes and plastic water bottles. So, what's all this? Looks like there's enough drugs to sedate the sleeping princess herself. Well, as luck would have it, there's one more piece of this puzzle that we have to account for. Rick looks at John. The last thing they need is another complication.
The sedative injection we administer in chamber nine could wear off during the dive. So, all of you will need to be prepared to dose the boys again if they wake up along the way. Rick scans the anxious faces on the divers. One of them nervously responds, Dr. Harris, we don't have any medical training. Don't worry, I'll show you, and we'll give each of you a pouch with preloaded syringes. He takes a syringe in one hand and demonstrates with the water bottle.
If they wake up, you need to firmly stick it into the thigh, like that. The water drips onto the dirt floor. Go ahead and practice. The divers look nervous, but each of them gives it a try. By the end of the exercise, none of them look exactly happy. But what choice do they have? The men grab their gear, and they shuffle out. ♪
The procession into the cave is at least 100 people long. The 13 key divers are leading the way. John Volenthen looks over at his dive buddy Rick. "You good?" Rick nods. The two men are quiet for a moment, remembering back to a dive in France in the Dragonier Cave when they tried to rescue a fellow diver named Eric Establi. They'd done their best, and it wasn't enough. It reminds John that a cave diving rescue rarely ends well.
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Head over to Symbiotica.com and use code ODDS for 20% off and free shipping on your subscription order. Rick sits in the dim light of Chamber 3 of Tom Luong, meticulously checking his equipment and going over the day's plan in his head.
It's a complex and dangerous operation. 13 divers will battle the currents inside the cave. Four lead divers, including Rick and his partner John, will dive out four boys, one by one, to chamber three. It's a harrowing route, one and a half miles long, filled with tight passages, rocky floors, and jagged outcroppings. Assistant divers will be stationed along the route to help.
There will be no radio communication. Once the plan starts, there will be no turning back. Rick joins the line of 13 divers as they put on their rebreathers and masks and specialized tanks. When it's Rick's turn, he steps into the familiar coffee black waters and begins the long dive towards the boys. Jason Mallinson paddles through the dark underwater tunnels.
Jason is one of the more experienced British divers, and he's fast, so he volunteered to take the first boy out. He's traveled the route before, but visibility is poor, so he feels along the jagged rock walls with outstretched hands. It's like reading Braille. When he reaches chamber nine, he pulls himself up onto the embankment, takes out his rebreather, and greets Dr. Harris. Harris has been tasked with administering the sedatives to each boy. How are they?
They're calm. I gave them Xanax. What did you tell them? I had the seals tell them that they'd feel funny, and then one at a time, I'd call them down to give them an injection. And they'd wake up in the hospital. They watch as the seals lead the first drowsy child down to the cement embankment.
The others rest in the shadows, away from the water's edge. It's all part of the plan, so the other boys don't see their friends unconscious. The frightening image could easily cause the boys to panic. It's also been decided the divers won't learn the boys' names. Each boy will be referred to as a package. Their order number is all that differentiates them. Package 1, 2, 3...
and so forth. The odds are, most of the boys won't make it out alive, and it's a way for the divers to not let things get too personal. An emotional cave diver is a dead cave diver. Jason watches Dr. Harris swab the first boy's leg with alcohol, and then injects it with ketamine and atropine. Within minutes, the 14-year-old fades into a forced slumber.
Jason passes some plastic zip ties to Dr. Harris, and the two men tie them tight around the boy's wrists and ankles. They put a carabiner around the loops to make sure it's strong. We can't have him move at all during the dive. Jason wraps package one like a mummy and slides on the customized scuba face mask. It's an adult-size mask with five straps, and the two men need to cinch and pull to make sure it's airtight.
If it were to come loose or leak water on the dive, the boy would drown. Jason lets out air in the boy's inflatable buoyancy jacket and watches as Package One sinks into the inky black water. Then he gives Harris a final nod and drops into the abyss. Once underwater, Jason attaches Package One to his chest like a baby Bjorn and then glides into the maze of the Tam Luang. Murky darkness surrounds him like a cloak.
The sharp stalactites and sudden outcroppings worry him, so he places his head in front of the package to take any sudden bumps. The most challenging section is a tight passage between chambers 9 and 8. He needs to turn the package sideways to fit through the gap. The child's bare legs drop down and scrape against the walls. Nothing he can do now. He needs to keep going. That's the plan.
When he gets close to the air pocket, he tugs on the rope. It's a signal to the waiting divers that he's coming. When he pops up, Rick Stanton and Craig Challen are there to meet him. The plan is to make sure the package is breathing before retrieving the next. "How is he?" Rick puts his ear to the boy's chest. "He's good. He's still breathing." Rick helps Jason carry the package through the dry sections to chamber seven. And then Jason's on his own again.
Stanton has his own package to retrieve. He grabs the boy's straps and heads toward the next chamber. His package sound asleep beneath him. He's just pulling into the chin-deep waters of chamber six when he feels the boy move. That's not good. Package one should not be moving. He should be knocked out. If he wakes up, the boy could panic, putting both him and Jason in danger. The boy twitches again.
Jason prays their dyspasms. If the ketamine is wearing off, he has to get another syringe in him immediately. Jason frantically paddles over to the rock wall and breaks through the surface. He uses every ounce of his strength to lift the boy up just enough so his thigh reaches the water. He can't believe it. He's about to administer a dose of ketamine in the middle of a deadly cave dive, and he's only ever practiced on a plastic water bottle. He fumbles to open his bag.
Suddenly, the needles spill into the frothy water. They're floating away. Jason flails his hand around blindly and manages to grab one before the current swallows them all up. The boy moves again. He's about to wake up. Jason quickly stabs the needle into the boy's thigh. It knocks him out immediately. Jason grabs a breath and slowly places the package back into the water.
He's winded, heartbeat racing, but he has to keep going. Hopefully, the ketamine will hold. It's 4:00 p.m. and Major Hodges of the U.S. 353rd Special Operations Group is trying not to show his concern. He sits blank-faced at the control center, his phone at the ready, waiting for any word of the dive. There's no radio signal deep in the cave, but his men in Chamber 3 know to alert him as soon as there's news.
Hodges looks at his watch. The first diver, Mallinson, should be out by now. The question is, though, will the boy with him be dead or alive? Hodges' phone buzzes. It's a message from his captain. He reads the text. Hey, the kid's out, and he's safe. Hodges isn't sure he believes it. He texts back. Are you absolutely sure? The kid is breathing? Yep, kid's doing fine. We're moving him from chamber three to two now.
Hodges allows himself a smile and then picks up the phone to call the governor. Rick Stanton stands on the beachhead of Chamber 9, watching as Dr. Harris guides another woozy boy down to the water's edge. The wild boars know the boy as Night, but to Rick, he's Package 4. The boy coughs a few times. He's breathing. He's strained. I think this one might have pneumonia.
Rick watches as Dr. Harris injects the ketamine and atropine into the boy's leg, watching his thin chest rise and fall. His breathing slows, and then the boy stops breathing completely. Rick and Harris wait. They're clear. Rick quickly straps a face mask onto the boy and pulls him into the frigid waters. Before he's about to dive, he notices the boy's breathing has stopped again. He turns back to Harris.
It doesn't seem like he's breathing. Rick, there's nothing we can do about it. Just keep going. I'll be right behind you and we'll have to check him in the next chamber. Rick puts aside any misgivings and then dips into the darkness. A few moments later, he's paddling through the current. He won't know until he gets to chamber 8 if he's saving a life or recovering a body.
Twenty minutes later, Rick shimmies up onto the sandbars of Chamber 8 and waits for Harris. He's alone with the boy, but Package 4 isn't moving. His breath has gone from faint to non-existent. "Come on, kid. Breathe for me. Breathe for me, please." Harris emerges and pulls himself up onto the rock. He takes the boy in his lap, cradling his head to open the airway.
Rick hears the splashing of the assistant divers, Craig Challen and Klaus Rasmussen, returning from chamber 7. "Challen, you want to help me pack this gear up?" Rick needs to keep moving. His job is to dive out the package, no matter what. Challen nods.
The second diver, Rasmussen, makes his way over to Harris and the boy. The child looks so helpless, wrapped up in his cocoon. He leans down and whispers a broken Thai mantra-like promise into the boy's ear. One he will whisper to each of the boys who follow over the next two days. Don't worry, son. You're on your way home. You're going to your mom. Don't worry, son. You're on your way home.
The diver's voice softly echoes off the walls of the Sleeping Princess' lair as Night's chest slowly rises and falls again. Harris calls out, "Rick, he's breathing." The divers hand the boy over to Rick, who grabs hold of his straps and drops down into the black abyss, cradling the boy's head against his chest.
Ken O'Brien shifts from foot to foot, peering into the water of Chamber 3, waiting for the guideline to vibrate, the telltale sign that a diver is coming closer. O'Brien is part of the U.S. Special Tactics Team, a pararescuer. He's been in the Air Force for almost 12 years, but he's dreamed of jumping out of planes and saving people since he was the same age as the kids on the Wild Boar soccer team.
Now he's part of one of the most complex rescue missions ever attempted. Three of the boys have come out, but there's still one more package left to go. The last of the day, ferried in by Rick Stanton. He's come to respect the level heads and the quiet determination of Rick and his partner John, but there's no telling what can happen in the unpredictable currents. There are so many things that can go wrong. O'Brien anxiously peers into the water again.
Around 7 p.m., the line starts to twitch, slowly at first, then more vigorously. Then Rick Stanton's familiar face pops through the surface, pushing the cocoon package ahead of him. I can't tell if he's breathing. We had to dose him four times. He kept waking up. The chamber is quiet as O'Brien pulls the boy up onto the embankment. He leans down and puts his ear to the boy's mask, listening and watching quietly.
Stanton's exhausted voice breaks through. "Is he alive?" The boy's chest slowly rises. "Yes, yes, package four is alive. What about the others?" All of the packages made it through. They're recovering at the hospital. Less than 24 hours ago, divers predicted an 80% fatality rate. Now, four have made it out. They've beaten the odds.
The next day, the team of 13 divers executes the same plan. It goes off without a hitch. Four more boys make it out alive. A rescue effort that started out in chaos 17 days earlier has become a highly organized operation. But Rick knows it's not over yet. There are still five more boys to go.
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It's Tuesday, July 10th, and John Volenthen wakes up exhausted. He and Rick have been going for 15 days on adrenaline and little sleep.
The physical and mental stress is taking its toll. Eight of the boys are out, but there's still five more to go. And now, it's pouring rain. At the command center, the rescuers debate what to do next. Conditions in the cave are growing worse by the hour. More water is pouring in, and no one is sure how long the pumps will hold.
But if they don't go in today, they might not get another chance. If the rains continue, it can last for three months. And by then, the boys and their coach, and the four seals who are with them, will most likely be dead. The divers agree. It's now or never. Today must be the day.
It's early afternoon when Jason Mallinson emerges into chamber 9 of Tam Luong. There are only four divers, but there are five people left. It will be his job to dive two people out. This time his package is waiting, prepared by Dr. Bach and the seals. Mallinson assumes it will be one of the smaller boys, but instead they hand him coach Ake, package number nine.
Ake is tired and weak. He's been giving all his food to the boys. It doesn't take much ketamine to put him out. Dr. Harris and Mallinson quickly wrap him up and put on his face mask. And then, Jason is gone. 30 minutes later, John Vaughn then takes package number 10, a 15-year-old boy named T, the wild boar's captain.
The five-hour dive is relatively easy, except for the difficult passage in the homestretch between chambers four and three. Fallen Finn is six foot two, and it's a tight squeeze. With a package on his chest, it's even tighter, but he finally makes it through to the other side, where the teams take the boy and ferry him out to the waiting ambulance. Two down, three to go. John sits down, exhausted, to wait for his dive partner.
Rick Stanton blindly feels his way through the muddy waters between chamber 4 and chamber 3 with a boy tethered to his chest. The child's name is Titan. Titan is one of the smallest boys and now weighs only 66 pounds. Rick knows the drill well at this point, but conditions in the cave, they've gotten worse. Two days ago, visibility was around 3 inches. Now, it's down to zero.
He moves slowly, meticulously, making sure the boy's head doesn't bump on any rock in the tight passageway. Finally, he and his package pop through into chamber three. He rips off his mask and hands his boy to the next stage of the rescuers, who take him through the remaining chambers and to safety. He plops down next to his diving partner, John. "Your package make it through?"
Yep, package 9-2. Coach Ake, he insisted on being sedated. He wanted to do it exactly the same way the boys did. So, two more to go. Yep, Jewel's probably on his way now. Rick leans back against the wall. His body is bruised and exhausted, but his part of the mission is finally over. Chris Jewel swims through a murky passage carrying package 12.
Jewel is the youngest and least experienced of the British divers. So far, he's been keeping up, but it's been a long haul. The exhaustion is getting to him.
He's in the homestretch, close to chamber three, when suddenly he finds himself in a whirlpool of mud and silt. He can barely hold on to his boy. Then he loses hold of his guideline and he's untethered in the darkness. He tries to stay calm while he uses his hands to paw against the sharp rocks, trying to find his way through.
Finally, he grasps hold of a cable. This must be it. The passageway to Chamber 3. But when Joule rises to the surface, it isn't Chamber 3. There are no medics. No seals. There's no divers. He squints his eyes, his flashlight scanning the walls. He's in a strange, unknown air pocket. He pops out his rebreather. Damn it.
Jewel pulls the package to a sandy embankment. The boy's lips are blue and his breathing is shallow. He's been in the cold water for hours. Jewel can tell that hypothermia is setting in. He holds the boy close to keep him warm. And then he waits, hoping that someone will find him.
Mallinson swims through a narrow tunnel with package 13 on his chest. It's the last package of the day, and it's rough going. The boy is so small, Mallinson has to keep checking his mass to make sure there are no leaks. Dr. Harris follows behind. When Mallinson pops up in chamber 4, he's surprised to see Chris Jewell sitting on the shore looking back at him with package 12 in his arms.
I think I might have gotten turned around. I couldn't see a thing down there. Malinson can tell. Jules is shaken. You're alright. This is chamber four. There's just one more to go. Jules starts to suit up again when Dr. Harris' head breaks the surface. Well, hello. I didn't expect to see you. Everything okay? But he can tell from Jules' face that it's not. Hey, do you want me to take the boy the rest of the way out? Jules nods. I think that would be best.
The three divers duck under the water with the final two packages and slowly make their way back to chamber three. When they emerge, the cheers of the rescuers in the cave almost deafen them. Medics quickly check the last two boys. They're both breathing. They've done it. Divers and rescuers from around the world have come together and achieved the impossible. They've saved the entire Wild Boar soccer team.
It's 10 p.m., July 10th. Knight's mom, Supaluk, waits with the other parents under a tarp, listening to the Thai Navy SEALs cheer in the distance. The parents know the boys are out, but they still haven't seen them. They're in the hospital, being cared for by doctors. So for now, all they can do is thank the brave men who saved them.
Knight's mom watches as the lumbering divers make their way back to camp. Among them is Rick Stanton and John Volenthen, along with the Aussies and the assistant divers from Europe. Some of the American Special Tactics team are there as well. When it quiets down, one of the American climbers offers the translate. The mother of the littlest boy, Titan, speaks for them all. We had died, and now we get a second lease on life. Thank you.
Everyone is in tears, including the translator. Then the parents step forward to hug each of the divers. Later, a few of them will also quietly say a small prayer of thanks to the princess for finally letting their sons go free. At 11:15 PM, as the rains continue to pummel the ground, the last of the four seals breaks through the surface of chamber three.
Pararescuers are waiting to pull them out. Together, they leap into the sump and swim to safety. When they emerge from the mouth of the cave, they are greeted by cheers and calls. They are heroes in their country. In the American tent, Major Hodges breathes a sigh of relief. Everyone is out. It took 18 days, but the mission is finally complete.
Over the next few hours, the rain will fill every chamber of the cave, making it completely impassable again. Over the next few days, the boys wake up, one by one, in the Chiang Rai hospital, some just a few hours after they were rescued. Everyone has made it out with only minor cuts, bruises, and a few low-grade chest infections.
Their immune systems are weak, so doctors put them on a liquid diet and quarantine them in a room together. A glass wall separates them from the outside world. The parents come to visit, pressing their faces against the glass, crying, and blowing kisses. "We love you!" they yell. They may not be able to hug their children, but everyone agrees that the boys look well taken care of and are doing great.
Nine days later, the boys are discharged. They thank their doctors and nurses and give a press conference. They dress in new matching wild boar soccer uniforms and sit side by side with giant smiles. Coach Ake does most of the talking. He tells the press meditation helped all of them through. He also thanks Petty Officer Salmon Gunnan for sacrificing his life to save all of them.
When reporters asked the boys what they learned, one says he will be more careful to live his life to the fullest. Another tells them he learned to be more patient and strong. Within a few weeks, the boys are back to their everyday lives, school and, of course, soccer practice. Knight and his family finally celebrate his birthday, pork crackling, dipping sauce, and, of course, an emoji ice cream cake.
Rick Stanton loves seeing the English knolls speeding below the plane as it comes in for a landing. He and John are bruised and tired, but glad to be home. It'll be nice to get some much-needed rest. But when they come around the corner into the arrival area, they walk straight into a wall of cameras and press. One of the reporters yells, Do you feel like a hero? No.
Rick pauses. He knows it took a village to complete this mission. People from all over the world. Finally, he answers. "Are we heroes? No. We were just using a very unique skillset. Sometimes we're able to use that and give something back to the community. That's all we did." "Will you see the boys again?" Rick smiles. "Oh, we'll see the boys again sometime in the future. For now, the divers just want to return to their normal lives."
Rick Stanton goes back into retirement, which for him means kayaking trips with his girlfriend, Amp. Jason Mallinson takes a long trip to Spain. John Volenthen avoids the press and returns to his life as an IT consultant. Chris Jewell hopes to lead the next generation of cave rescue divers. The British divers and Vern Unsworth all keep in touch with the Aussie divers and the men from the American Special Tactics Group. Some of them even visit each other.
In the face of unbelievable adversity, they all came together to beat the odds in the most dangerous cave rescue in history. This is the final episode of our four-part series, Thai Cave Rescue. On our next episode, we'll be talking to world-renowned cave diver, Rick Stanton, in more depth about the challenges of the Thai Cave Rescue and other rescues he's been part of. If you like our show, please give us a five-star rating and a review.
Just a quick note about our reenactments. In most cases, we can't exactly know what was said, but all our dramatizations are based on historical research. If you'd like to learn more about the Thai Cave Rescue, we recommend The Boys in the Cave by Matt Gutman and Rising Water by Mark Aronson.
I'm your host, Mike Corey. Tamiya Payne wrote this episode, and David Gardner is our producer. Our associate producer is Brian White. Our audio engineer is Sergio Enriquez. And sound design is done by Aaron May. Our executive producers are Stephanie Jens, Marshall Louis, and Hernan Lopez for Wondery. Wondery.
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