All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team

On the evening of July 6, the Thai officials gathered for their meeting, and Major Charles Hodges began his presentation. He’d need diplomacy and strong communication skills to convince so many leaders that the dive rescue plan was the best option. Major Hodges started by acknowledging the difficult position the Thai leaders were in; they had an emotional connection to the Thai people and the soccer team, while Major Hodges, as a non-Thai, could separate his emotions from the decision-making process more easily. He then outlined all the options for trying to rescue the boys and explained the problems associated with each one. Major Hodges than stated that the only viable option left was to dive the kids out. Even though it had risks, it was the best option available. Sergeant Derek Anderson then took over and explained the carefully thought-out dive rescue plan his team had made. Thanet spoke next to describe his team’s water pumping efforts and emphasized to Thai leaders that time was running out. Major Hodges was honest with Thai Governor Narongsak about the chances of success, saying, “I fully expect anywhere from three to five children to die” (171). However, he stated that if they didn’t act now, he believed that all the boys would die.

Thai Minister Paochinda decided to accept the risks and gave permission for the dive rescue. He now needed to write to the prime minister to explain his decision, and he asked Thanet and his father-in-law to help him draft the letter. Thanet had no official position or rank, yet he was asked to help draft this all-important letter. With the green light from Paochinda, rescuers had 36 hours to prepare for the dive rescue.

On July 7, rescuers spent the day preparing for the dive rescue. Thirteen highly experienced cave divers would be stationed beyond Chamber 3 to help at various stages of the dive. The boys would wear full-face masks, the best option for helping them breathe normally. However, obtaining these masks proved difficult, as they’re not commonly used. Two were located at a small British dive shop and rushed to Thailand. They then were modified with neoprene to make them small enough to create a seal on the small faces of the boys. The team also decided that the boys would be unconscious for the entire dive. An anesthesiologist and cave diver, Dr. Richard Harris, was flown in from Australia. He’d be part of the rescue dive team and would sedate the boys, but first he needed to figure out the proper medicines and dosages that would be safest for everyone involved. The extra divers stationed in the cave would help carry the unconscious boys over the dry sections and would be available to take over for the British divers if needed. The Thai SEALs and US Air Force would be waiting in Chamber 3 to take the boys to the cave exit.

Sergeant Anderson set up a practice area in the Tham Luang parking lot where rescuers went through each section of the cave and talked through the plan and possible problems that might arise. The rescue divers also practiced at a local pool with children from the community who volunteered. These practice runs allowed the team to anticipate what conditions would be like and have solutions ready for potential problems. Meanwhile, Thanet analyzed rainfall patterns and determined that the cave could withstand a little more than a half-inch of rain before it started to flood again. All they could do was hope that the rain would hold off until the boys were out of the cave.

The day for the rescue came on July 8, and the divers planned to bring out four boys since they’d now obtained four full-face masks. The Wild Boars had been prepared for the rescue process. They chose the order in which they’d be extracted from the cave, deciding that those who live farthest from the cave should exit first so that they could go through town and let people know that the rest of the team was okay. In addition, Dr. Harris prepared the boys somewhat for sedation. He dove back to Chamber 9 the day before and gave the boys a note, translated into Thai, explaining that they’d take a tablet, get a shot in each leg, fall asleep, and wake up in bed. The boys seemed to accept this information without question or worry. On the day of the rescue, Dr. Harris began by giving Note, the first boy to be taken out, an antianxiety pill. Once he had diving gear on, Note was injected with a sedative called ketamine, and once he fell asleep, Dr. Harris dipped his face underwater to check that the face mask was sealed and that Note could breathe properly. Once everything looked good, Jason Mallinson started to dive Note through the cave. Jason had extra syringes of ketamine that he could administer if Note’s sedation dose started to wear off during the dive. If the boys woke up while underwater, they could panic, so keeping them sedated was crucial for the rescue to be successful.

As Jason slowly made his way through the first sump with Note, he watched Note’s mask carefully for signs of flooding. He held Note’s face near his own, partly to block him from jutting boulders and stalagmites, and partly to feel for bubbles coming from Note’s mask that showed he was breathing normally. Three divers had been assigned to Chamber 8 to help carry the boys across the chamber: Claus Rasmussen, Craig Challen, and Mikko Paasi. However, when Jason took longer than expected to reach them, the men realized that they were waiting in the wrong chamber. Jason had to carry Note across Chamber 8 by himself. They quickly made their way to Chamber 8 to be ready to help the next diver as Jason continued the dive with Note. As he went through the sumps, Jason’s progress was slow; he had to figure out the best positioning for guiding Note through each uniquely shaped passage. He reached a point in the dive when Note started to stir from his sedated state, and Jason thus had to administer a dose of ketamine while in the water. Meanwhile, rescuers in Chamber 3 anxiously awaited the first diver and boy. Everyone was watching the rope, waiting for it to move, which would indicate that a diver was almost there. Back in Chamber 9, three more boys had been sedated, and each had been started through the cave passages with a diver. Night, the final rescue for the day, had a hard time breathing at first under sedation; it took 30 minutes before he started breathing deeply enough for him to be taken through the first sump. Thankfully, despite setbacks, all seemed to be going relatively well for the divers and sedated boys.

Jason Mallinson arrived at Chamber 3 with Note and transferred him to the waiting rescue team. Not everyone was told that the boys would be sedated, so some of the rescuers were concerned when they saw that Note was unconscious. His vitals were good, however, and he had to now be carried by stretcher for the mile and a half to the cave entrance. The rescue team used zip lines and pulleys to lift Note in the stretcher across two particularly rocky sections. Note made it safely to the cave entrance: “After sixteen days, Tham Luang has let the first Wild Boar go free” (199). The happy news traveled quickly, and the other three boys being extracted that day emerged one by one from the cave and were taken to waiting ambulances. Across base camp, Mae Sai, Thailand, and the world, people heard the good news and celebrated.

The rescue team’s work was still not finished. As happy that they were about the first four boys, they knew they need to remain focused on the task ahead of them. The following day, they used the same process and brought out four more boys: Adul, Nick, Dom, and Bew. This time, things went faster and smoother than on the first day because the rescuers knew what to expect and how to maneuver through the sumps with the boys. Rescuers were hoping to take a day of rest between rescues, but with rain in the forecast, this was impossible. At this point, rescuers, including the divers, military, and Thanet’s water team—were exhausted and had incurred minor injuries and, in some cases, foot fungus from the wet conditions. They just needed to continue for one more day.

Divers reported that in Sam Yaek, they no longer felt the cold water current, which meant that Thanet’s water diversion was working. In the early morning on July 10, the rain began again. Thanet reported to Derek Anderson that the rain in the area above Monk’s Series was almost to the half-inch limit, but his water diversion structures were holding. As the divers entered the cave for one more trip, they heard water moving faster deep within the cave.

Today, rescuers would extract five people: the four remaining soccer players and Coach Ek. Jason Mallinson would bring Coach Ek through the first sump, hand him off to diver Jim Warny, and then return with the last boy, Mark. They needed a fifth face mask for this rescue day, and when Jason put this mask on Mark, he realized that it was too big. Jason improvised with an extra mask he brought as a backup, and it sealed. Another problem occurred when rescue diver Chris Jewell lost the guideline between Chambers 4 and 3. He became disoriented and ended up back tracking to Chamber 4. Dr. Harris, on his way out, was in Chamber 4 and took the boy, Pong, the rest of the way. Finally, at 6:47pm on July 10, after 18 days trapped in the cave, the last boy was carried out of Tham Luang.

However, the rescue wasn’t over yet. The three Thai Navy SEALs and Dr. Pak still had to dive out. They left Chamber 9 at 45-minute intervals, and as the third Thai diver surfaced in Chamber 3, the water started to rise quickly; one of the pumps had failed. Rescuers in Chamber 3 started to evacuate, and at the last minute, the final SEAL surfaced. The passages filled with water as the last person left the cave. Everyone could finally celebrate fully because all the people who had been trapped in the cave were finally out.

The boys woke up in the hospital and finally got to see their families. They were in good health considering the cave conditions and ordeal they’d endured. The boys made videos to express their thanks for all who helped with the rescue, and they were released from the hospital after a week. They decided as a team to become novice monks at the Buddhist temple Wat Doi Wao as a way to show their gratitude. They spent nine days at the temple, where they practiced prayer and meditation.

Coach Ek and the three boys on the team who were stateless were granted Thai citizenship. The Wild Boars rescue drew attention to this problem and may lead to political reforms for stateless people in Thailand. The boys received international attention, and their lives changed forever. Many of them had new dreams for their future based on their experience, like wanting to become Navy SEALs. They all wanted to do well in school and showed a newfound maturity and gratitude.