Aronson - Rising water: the story of the Thai cave rescue

The hands of rescue workers from around the world symbolize the spirit of cooperation that characterized the effort to save Coach Ek and the twelve young soccer players.

Thursday, June 28

Sunday, June 24

Monday and Tuesday, June 2526

Wednesday and Thursday, June 2728

Friday and Saturday, June 2930

Sunday and Monday, July 12

Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday, July 36

Saturday, July 7

Sunday-Monday-Tuesday, July 810

THAI

Members of the Wild Boars Club (asterisk means trapped in the cave)

Coaches

Ekapon Ek Jantawong*: assistant coach

Nopparat Kanthawong: founder and head coach

Players

Chanin Titan Vibulrungruang*, eleven years old

Mongkol Mark Boonpiam*, twelve years old

Panumas Mick Sangdee*, thirteen years old

Duganpet Dom Promtep*, thirteen years old

Sompong Pong Jaiwong*, thirteen years old

Adul Dul Sam-on*, fourteen years old

Nattawut Tern Takamsong*, fourteen years old

Ekarat Bew Wongsukchan*, fourteen years old

Prajak Note Sutham*, fourteen years old

Pipat Nick Pho*, fifteen years old

Pornchai Tee Kamluang*, sixteen years old

Peerapat Night Sompiangjai*, seventeen years old

Thaweechai Nameng, thirteen years old

Songpul Kanthawong, thirteen years old

Thai Navy SEALs

Baitei: SEAL member who stayed with the team in the cave

Lieutenant Commander Saman Gunan: retired SEAL

Captain Anan Surawan

Thai Army

Dr. Pak Loharnshoon: medic who stayed with the team in the cave

Government Officials

General Prayut Chan-o-cha: prime minister of Thailand

Narongsak Osottanakorn: governor of Chiang Rai Province

Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun: king of Thailand

Assisting in the Rescue

Ruengrit Changkwanyuen: diver

Sri Tammachoke: farmer

OTHER COUNTRIES

Australian

Craig Challen: cave diver

Dr. Richard Harry Harris: anesthesiologist and cave diver

British

Dr. Martin Ellis: geographer

Rob Harper: cave explorer

Chris Jewell: cave diver

Jason Mallinson: cave diver

Richard Rick Stanton, MBE: cave diver

Vernon Unsworth: cave explorer

John Volanthen: cave diver

Chinese

Wang Ke: volunteer member of the Beijing Peaceland Foundation

Zhou Yahui: volunteer member of the Beijing Peaceland Foundation

International Divers

Ivan Karadzic: Dane living in Thailand

Fernando Raigal: Spaniard

Ben Reymenants: Belgian living in Thailand

International Businessman

Elon Musk

United States Military

Master Sergeant Derek Anderson

Staff Sergeant James Brisbin

Staff Sergeant Michael Galindo

Major Charles Hodges: leader of US team at the cave

Captain Jessica Tait: chief public affairs officer for US effort

Thursday, June 28, 2018

CAVE DIVERS KNOW NOT TO panic; not to let thoughts of drowning linger and distract them. Make the best decision in this moment, this second, save your breath, stay alive. Face the next crisis when it comes.

Richard Rick Stanton and John Volanthen are two of the best cave divers in the world. They had flown overnight from England to Thailand to look for twelve Thai youth soccer players and their assistant coach, who, if alive, were somewhere deep in the pitch-dark, flooded caverns of the Tham Luang cave system. But now that the divers were in the cave, they realized that the best move was to give up the search.

The cave system was filled with so much rushing, muddy water that divers could not see even a foot in front of themselves. Even Stanton and Volanthen could not make any headway against the current. The boys were sealed in a watery trap. The divers finally managed to navigate far enough into the cavern to reach a large chamber where they found four terrified men.

Desperate to reduce the water level in the caves, authorities had managed to bring in water pumps operated by skilled workers and linked to long hoses that led out of the cavern. But the water had risen so quickly that four of the pump workers were trapped. The frightened men couldnt stay, couldnt make it through the tight tunnels that were flooded floor to ceiling, didnt know how to dive through the cold, muddy waters.

Stanton understood how to save a man who was in extreme danger but could not move: grasp him and pull him to safety. Back in England, hed trained as a firefighter. Now, as the water in the chamber rose, he and Volanthen had to act, fast.

Theyd have to grab the workmen, dive them back through to the cave entrance, and tell the Thai authorities to suspend the search for the boys: the rushing waters beyond the chamber were too dangerous to cross.

Cave diving is a new form of exploration that requires care, training, and specialized equipment, and Stanton and Volanthen are decorated, world-record-holding divers. That means they know when to quit, when the risk is just too high. For the moment, the hunt for the boys must end. Once they got the workmen out, going back into the cave would be suicide for the divers. Later on someone could go back to look for the boysor their bodies.

DR. ANDREW ALAN JOHNSON, AN AMERICAN Anthropologist who lived in northern Thailand for many years, has described the area near the Tham Luang cave system as a beautiful mountain valley with sharp-sided cliffs, the hills covered with green, dense jungle. And then comes the cave system, which is enthralling. Its entrance is broad, like a cathedral door, and during the rainy season the humidity pours out of it like steam. It looks like the gateway to another world. In some senses, it is. Filled with inviting chambers, challenging tight corners, and branching paths, the caves are a popular destination for adventurous explorers, like the members of the Moo Pa youth soccer team.