Divers

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.

“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.”


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.

One of the British divers who helped save 12 schoolboys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand has downplayed claims the team are "heroes".

John Volanthen has returned to Britain after the successful mission to reach the stranded group in an underground network in Chiang Rai province.
After landing at Heathrow Airport, Mr Volanthen spoke of the relief he felt at seeing the boys rescued after an 18-day ordeal in the Luang Nang Non cave, but was modest about his extraordinary feat.
"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 told Sky News.
He added: "We are not heroes. What we do is very calculating, very calm. It's quite the opposite."



There have been calls for Mr Volanthen and Rick Stanton to receive awards for their efforts.
But Mr Volanthen credited the international team of military, navy and civilian divers who all "pulled together".
He 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 successful operation.
The IT consultant, in his 40s, who is based in Bristol, and Mr Stanton, a fireman from Coventry who is in his 50s, reached the group nine days after they went missing deep within the labyrinth.
The final four boys and their 25-year-old coach were brought to safety on Tuesday, having entered the network for exploration on 23 June before it became flooded by monsoon rains.
Their rescue was particularly treacherous because the boys, aged 11 to 16, had to swim through tight spaces despite having no previous diving experience. They were given a tranquilliser to keep them calm throughout the process.


''Thank you so much for your effort. It was a great rescue and we very appreciate it.
''Now, both of you, you will always be welcome, any time, you have so many friends here.''
Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith then shakes their hands and says: ''Consider it free tickets to Thailand, any time''.
Tourism Minister Kowsoorad added: ''Absolutely''.
The presentation didn't quite go to plan though, when the tourism boss gave them ''certificates of appreciation'' with their names mixed up.


John, 47, and fellow British diver Rick Stanton, 52, were the first people to discover the trapped boys and their coach in the flooded complex.
Both Brits caught an early morning Thai Airways flight to London and landed in London Heathrow at 7.07am this morning.
This comes as heartwarming footage showed the 12 rescued boys waving for the camera in hospital.


Two volunteer British divers who led the rescue of the boys’ soccer team trapped inside a Thailand cave this week downplayed their heroic efforts and brushed off suggestions that they should be knighted, according to a new report.
John Volanthen, 47, and Rick Stanton, 56, initially located the boys and their coach — whom not even special forces could find — and then led them two-and-a-half miles through a flooded, dungeon-like cave inside a mountain, The Daily Mail reported.
Now many are calling for the brave pair to be honored at Buckingham Palace.
Former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Ashcroft tweeted that the duo should be awarded the George Cross or the George Medal — which are given to reward acts of civilian courage.
But despite his selfless act, Volanthen insisted that he was not a national hero — and that anyone else would have done the same.
“It’s not like that – if you could do the same for someone else’s child, you would,” Volanthen, an IT consultant from Bristol, told the outlet. “The result is the important thing. The kids came out, the coach is good, the [Thai navy] Seals are good – job done.”
“I can’t explain why, but it’s not like that,” he added. “It’s just…it worked.”
Stanton, a retired Coventry firefighter, said that the rescue “seems to have lifted the whole country,” but gave all the credit to the soccer players themselves.
“It all went according to plan,” he said. “The boys did well.”
Volanthen and Stanton flew back to the UK after the rescue — despite the millions of Thai street parties in their honor, according to the report.
Volanthen’s mother, Jill, told the outlet that she is proud of her son — but “my sympathy is with the wife and family of the diver [Former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Gunan] who lost his life.”
Another British diver involved in the rescue, Jason Mallinson, 50, shared Volanthen and Stanon’s sentiments.
“We’re not heroes,” he told the Daily Mail. “It was a difficult mission but we succeeded and the results speak for themselves. I feel good – now it’s over. It will be good to get home.”
Mallinson’s mother, Anne, shared that her son “never wanted to be in the limelight.”
“That is exactly how he is – he has never wanted praise, he just sees it as something he has to do,” she said. “The fact there were children involved made this one extra special for him, and I can’t put into words my pride.”
The last four boys in the 12-member team — and their coach — were rescued on Tuesday from the cave where they’d been trapped by floodwaters for 18 days since going missing on June 23.


One of the divers who helped save 12 schoolboys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand has played down his heroics as he returned to Britain.
There have been calls for John Volanthen and Rick Stanton to be honoured after they were the first divers to reach the stranded group in the Tham Luang cave complex.
After landing at Heathrow on Thursday, Volanthen spoke of the relief he had felt at making contact with the boys.
“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 told Sky News.

John Volanthen was the first voice the boys heard after nine days trapped in the underground network in Chiang Rai province.
This week, after an 18-day ordeal, they were all rescued from the cave complex.
Arriving at Heathrow Airport on Thursday, Mr Volanthen said it was a "relief" but played down his heroics.
Mr Volanthen, an IT consultant based in Bristol but who grew up in Brighton, was one of the first rescuers to discover the group huddled in the darkness of the Luang Nang Non Cave.

Arriving back in the UK, he said everybody had "pulled together" and was "very, very pleased it worked out quite so well".
"We're just very happy that the boys are out and safe," he said.
"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."