Lost in the Tham Luang Nang Non Cave: How a Children’s Soccer Team Was Rescued Over 3 Weeks

Carelessness that turned into sacrificial heroism, a desire for fame that ended in a loud scandal, strange deaths and a miraculous rescue – you will not find anything like this in any horror novel.

A school excursion

On June 23, 2018, a team of young Thai soccer players, in full lineup, led by their young coach Ekkapol Chantawong, set off on an excursion to the Tham Luang Nang Non cave. This place had always been considered special in Thailand. The cave’s mysterious labyrinths and the romantic atmosphere of its cold twilight attracted many locals and tourists.

Hand on heart – the idea of dragging children into these stone wilds was foolhardy. The mentor of the «Wild Boars» believed that celebrating one of the players’ birthdays here would be a real treat. And so it turned out. The young athletes were beyond delighted with the excursion. The children stocked up on light snacks and a small amount of water. Each young player had a flashlight and a phone. And it should be said that Ekkapol Chantawong felt confident and was not worried for the lives of his charges. In his opinion, the season of tropical torrential rains would not begin for a while. And there was time to spend a pleasant little journey through the cave’s winding passages.

The elements turned out to be against them

Unfortunately, the nature of Thailand is prone to treachery: any natural force begins unexpectedly, literally out of nowhere. And to predict its arrival even with the most sophisticated instruments is impossible.

When the boys had settled down in one of the labyrinths, cheerfully humming songs, a quiet rumble was heard. But no one paid any attention to it. Yet up above a real apocalypse was unfolding!  A powerful tropical downpour came down like an avalanche on the towns and villages. Alas, the prolonged, heavy rains had begun earlier than the appointed time.

A torrent of water sealed off the entrance to the cave completely. And the 12 «Wild Boars», along with their coach, found themselves in a deadly trap. A few hours passed and the young soccer players began to panic. Now they no longer hid their fear, relying only on a miracle.

The children of the underground, which was slowly but surely filling with foul water, were as one in mute stupor. A little later it became difficult to breathe: the oxygen in the cave was gradually diminishing.

Caught in a trap

And one must give credit to the courage and composure of Ekkapol Chantawong. He took the situation into his own hands, dividing the remaining food and water among the boys equally and sparingly. Ekkapol himself did not touch the food. Then he recalled the meditation lessons he had once received in a Buddhist monastery. This knowledge helped him restore calm within the team, to instill in each of his charges the thought that no one would leave them in trouble. And that up there, help was on its way to them.

Fortunately,  the Tham Luang Nang Non cave had hundreds of passages and small chambers. So the water was still creeping slowly toward their feet. But standing ankle-deep in murk full of infection was dangerous. Moreover, the stony, mold-covered mass of the cave made it impossible to reach the people. It simply swallowed up the sounds.

The first to raise the alarm were the monks. They saw a pile of bicycles dumped at the entrance to the cave. The monks were also troubled by the fact that the children, by preliminary calculations, should have returned long ago.

The rescue operation

Nine days later, on July 2, the «Wild Boars» soccer team was found by British divers John Volanthen and Rick Stanton. The exhausted children, worn out by uncertainty, were brought everything they needed. And soon, in conditions of the strictest secrecy, the rescue of the team began.

At first it was decided to pump out the water in order to create a favorable vacuum for the subsequent work. But this plan was doomed to fail: the water was menacingly approaching the spot where the athletes were located. And there seemed to be no end to the tropical downpours.

Hundreds of people from all corners of the planet took part in the rescue. Help also came from Russia. There was also, it should be noted, a loud scandal. With much fanfare, publicized in all the media, Elon Musk himself arrived at the scene. According to the American, his miracle submarine would surely save the «poor children».

British diver Vernon Unsworth – one of the heroes of the rescue operation – quite reasonably told the billionaire that in the narrow passage of the cave even a child could barely move forward. And there was nothing for Musk’s submarine to do there.

They moved blindly

From July 8 to 10, experienced divers, moving almost blindly through the cave’s labyrinths, freed all the children from the deadly trap. Each child first had to be sedated and, in an oxygen mask, brought to the surface over the course of five hours. The last to come up to the surface was Ekkapol Chantawong.

During the rescue operation, the Thai diver Saman Kunan died of suffocation. And his comrade Beirut Pakbara died in the hospital from an infection.

The «Wild Boars» fought for their lives for 18 days. And, to the astonishment of the doctors and psychologists, each of them preserved his health and sanity. Alas, only the captain of the children’s team was later unlucky. At the age of 17 he died under mysterious circumstances. Duangpetch Promthep was found unconscious in a dormitory in Leicestershire. Already in the hospital, the young soccer player died, supposedly from the consequences of a head injury.

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