True Crime with Kendall Rae - RESCUED: Thai Soccer Team Trapped in an Underground Cave for 18 Days

Episode Date: September 1, 2022

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Look forward at your local grocery or communitycafy.com. Hey guys, welcome back to my channel. So I wanted to start this off with a story that really inspired me and that is the Thai soccer team that got stuck in the caves. It's a truly incredible story and I really wanted to look into the details of it now that it's been a while and a ton more information has come out. But let's go ahead and get right into our story for today. So this soccer team was called the Wild Boars and they were a really close-knit group of friends actually. Their families did a lot of things together and they were all going to be having a birthday party

that night for one of the kids and this kid was going to be having a birthday party at his own family's house that night so they were at home getting ready for him waiting for him to come back from soccer practice and while they were at soccer practice the kids decided that they were going to have their own birthday party as well in this cave, the Tom Luong cave in northern Thailand. It is located in the Doh Nang Nong Mountains and it is six miles long. During the dry season, which wasn't at this time, this cave is a very popular destination for locals to go exploring and adventuring. So they decided that they were going to go into this cave and do some exploring for themselves,

but about an hour after they went into the cave, a huge storm came in. And this was rainy season, so whether can get really crazy in Thailand, they have monsoons, things can happen very quick, and water can be very dangerous, especially inside of a cave. So they started trying to escape the cave, but water started filling the cave so fast

that they had to like scramble to safety, and they had to leave whatever food and water that they did have behind. Now one thing that was good about this situation is there was a coach with them. And a lot of people have been very critical of this coach. Like how could you decide this was a good idea? This is a very dangerous thing to do during the rainy season.

Like people do this all the time, but not during the rainy season for this reason. So, as a local, you probably know how dangerous it can be, but those storms come in really, really quick. So, back at home at 7 p.m., the other coach got about 20 missed calls from parents looking for their kids after soccer practice. He called a bunch of the boys and when they didn't answer, he called one of the 13 year old members of the team who had not gone to the caves. After the practice, he had decided to go home. He was picked up right after practice.

So he didn't go with them, but he knew that they were going to one specific cave. So he told them where he thought that they were. So the coach and the parents decided to go to the cave for themselves and see if they could find them. And when they got there in front of the entrance of the cave, they found their bicycles and their bags. And they noticed that there was a ton of water rushing into the cave, so obviously the

parents are starting to freak out at this point. They formed a little rescue team, which included the parents and they went in trying to find them. But after a little while of searching, which mean these are big caves. There's a lot of different ways they could have gone. It would be very very hard to find someone inside of it. And after they were in there for a little while they started having difficulty breathing. And so they decided that this was unsafe and they left the cave for the day. They stopped for the night. They worked on gathering

supplies, getting help and forming a good rescue plan. And stopped for the night, they worked on gathering supplies, getting help, and forming a good rescue plan. And all through the night, it rained all night. It was literally pouring and the cave was just filling with water, so the parents are starting to think the worst. And this rain actually caused water to flow heavily down the northern passage, which trapped the boys somewhere in the cave, not allowing them to get out. And in addition, water was entering from the south, so everyone believed that the water level inside the cave was rapidly rising, which it really was. The next morning, officials worked together on how they would safely go into the cave and rescue the boys.

But obviously, they're not able to tell how flooded the caves are just from looking at the entrance. So, professional cavers came to the scene and one of them was British caver, Verne Un'sworth. And Verne had spent many years studying the cave and so his knowledge of the cave layout was very important to this rescue. And it didn't take the rescuers long to realize

that the cave was really, really flooded. There was a ton of water in it. Some places the water was all the way up to the ceiling. And this is when they realized that because the water was so high, they were going to need to bring in professional scuba divers. So the governor decided to call in the Thai Navy seals to help with the rescue, but they still didn't know exactly where they would be

inside of the cave. That was what they really had to figure out because it's so big and there's so many areas they could have gone to. But they did have a map that was made in 1980 by French cavers of how the cave was kind of laid out. So this kind of helped them, you know, get an idea for how the cave was set up. More specifically, they focused on one specific area that they thought they would be in called Patea Beach. And this

is a part of the cave that was higher in elevation and, you know, when the tides were right, it turned into kind of a little beach. So as days went on, divers decided that they were going to use a rope and kind of guide their way through the cave with a rope. And so they used this as kind of like a tether all the way through the cave system. This way, if they got lost or something happened,

they could follow their way out with the rope. It was still raining, so the entrance of the cave was only continuing to become more flooded. And they even tried to drain some of the water out of the cave, but that just didn't work. So at this point, it had been days. And people were scared all over the world. I remember talking about it on our podcast,

wondering if they would find these boys. And I did not think that they would. I really did it. It had been days at this point, and humans can only survive three to four days without water, especially because these are small, younger boys. But at this point, it was becoming an international effort

to save these boys. And there were hundreds of volunteers just walking around the mountain, trying to see if there were other access points into the cave that maybe they could have gone into or that the divers could use to get in there. But by day five, there was still no sign of the boys. So this is when they decided to bring in members of the British Cave Rescue Council.

And these divers are some of the most experienced rescue divers in the world. In addition, the Thai military reached out to the US Air Force asking them for help. So a group of them flew out to help as well. So at this point, it was becoming pretty clear that draining the cave was just not going to work So they came up with another idea. They basically Diverted all of the water at the top. There's like sinkholes at the top of the cave that allows water to come in And they're basically changing the direction of the water by you know Putting something there to push it elsewhere and just go down the side of the mountain instead of into the cave

So then it was day seven and there was still no sign of the boys. I mean the parents were starting to get really, really freaked out and upset. I mean everyone kind of was thinking the worst at this point. They were worried about their physical health and their mental health because being in a cave would really suck. Can you imagine being in there with no food or water for a long time? But by this time rescuers were able to drain the first half mile of the cave due to all of the draining and water diverting that they had done. This meant that the opening to the cave, which had been completely flooded and inaccessible up to this point, was now open enough to walk in. So they decided to take hundreds of air tanks and other supplies far into the cave as far as they could. And they dumped them all off in this area called Chamber 3, which is what they just named it.

And it's about a half mile from the entrance of the cave. So by day 10, there was still no sign of the boys. And even though the people that were going into the cave were professional divers, who were trained for this and enjoy this type of thing, couldn't really get around that easily because the waters were so murky, they barely could see. So eventually after hours of searching, they eventually reached that one beach in the middle of the cave.

So they got there and they expected all of the boys to be there, but they quickly realized that none of them were there. But they decided to go even further into the cave. And they continued until their oxygen tanks nearly ran out, which is, I can't imagine how scary that would be, until they finally came upon like an air pocket and they had to come up for air. So once they swam up to the surface, that is where they found all 12 boys and their coach. And they were in really good condition for being in a cave for this long. I mean, it was pretty incredible.

While they were in the cave, their coach was teaching them techniques of how to meditate and breathe through the anxiety. So they were in pretty good shape mentally and then physically they were in decent shape too. I mean, not great, but no one had like serious injuries or like was sick or anything, could have been a lot worse. Everyone was so relieved and thankful that the whole team was still alive. The parents were just overjoyed celebrating. There was

still a lot to worry about, however, and how are they actually going to get them out of the cave, considering that they were way in there, and it would require some serious swimming through narrow spaces filled with murky, disgusting water, and these aren't professional cave divers, these are just children. They sent letters to their parents and their parents sent messages into them and like little things like that and they also sent messages to the coach saying that they forgave him and gosh, that is just such a tie culture thing like they are just the kindness people I've been to Thailand and the people that I met there were just so so kind like everyone was so welcoming

and there was like a general kindness. There was a lot of smiling and it seemed like a really close community. So they did evaluations on all the boys and a doctor gave them food, like special food for people that have an eatin' for days because you can't just eat anything after you have an eatin' or you can get even more stick. The kids had some little cuts on their feet and legs from walking or climbing on the caves, but other than that, they were in pretty good condition. Once all the boys had been examined and they made sure that they were all stable,

they started thinking about how they were going to get them out. Now this was going to be a serious challenge. Like only half of the battle is done here. It was going to be extremely dangerous to get the kids out at this time because it was monsoon season and the weather was so unpredictable that a serious storm could happen and kill everyone involved. So they started talking about maybe waiting until after monsoon season but this was like three to four months out and that's a long time for these

boys and their coves to just stay in the cave. I mean, they can bring them stuff, but still, I mean, your body wears down. And the oxygen in the cave was not great. At the time when they found them, the oxygen was about 15% when the oxygen outside of the cave was about 21%. So it shows you it's not terrible, but it's still not great. So they decided they just couldn't wait and they made the decision to go ahead and get them out. So the path that they were going to have to take was literally considered one of the hardest in the world. Even professionals who have been doing this a very long time have trouble getting through it. So how are all these boys going to do it? So they had to bring tons of oxygen tanks into the cave to help with the oxygen levels and make sure that everyone was in good condition

to complete the escape out of the cave. So on day 14, something tragic actually did happen. One of the rescuers was Saman Kunan and he was a Thai Navy SEAL and he actually was a retired Navy SEAL who came back just to help. And so it was even more tragic. And no one knows exactly what happened to him actually

but as he was bringing in an oxygen tank or maybe I think he was bringing he was on his way back out from bringing in oxygen tankin He somehow went unconscious and then just died his dive partner pulled him out of the cave But by the time that they brought him out he was already gone This was extremely devastating to everyone definitely all of the media outlets everyone watching this was just Horrified to hear but especially to the people directly involved the rescuers because this is really showing that this could happen to anyone And this guy was a very very good diver. So if it could happen to him Everyone has to be extra careful and how are they going to get all of these kids out? We've had no experience a funeral was sponsored by and attended by the Tyroyal family

and it was held on July 14th. And on the same day, he was also awarded the night grand cross and the most exalted order of the white elephant. Even though it made them really worried about how they were going to get out, this made them even more motivated to do it. They wanted to do it in his honor. 16 days into the rescue,

it was announced to the public that a rescue plan had been created and signed off on. And it was announced that the rescue was going to start immediately. They were going to attempt to get 12 children and one adult who had never dove in their life to dive through these horrible cave conditions. Despite this sounding really, really scary and super risky,

they literally had no other option. And time was up the essence because there was a storm coming in. So they came up with a plan of how they were going to do it exactly and how they were going to make it as safe as possible, but there's only so much you can do to prevent a possible injury or death. The group of people who were going to be completing the dive were practicing in a local pool with just local kids who volunteered. And one of the biggest concerns was that one of the children might literally die from fear,

which could definitely happen. I mean, that's absolutely petrifying. It's not like the boys were going to be swimming out themselves, like diving. They were going to be in these little pods, like little bags basically, in between two rescuers. And they were also going to be given medicine that would calm them down and allow them to take them out.

It is actually rumored that they were giving ketamine. I'm pretty sure that they did, which would really, really relax you, which you'll really need. Because if you're in like a dark plastic bag and you start freaking out, it's going to possibly, you know, affect the other two divers who are taking care of you

if not kill yourself. So it's a really risky situation. So it was Sunday, July 8th, Day 16, and it was finally time to rescue the boys. They had a doctor going and explained to the boys how this would work and what was going to happen. And the boys seemed pretty fearless. They were so ready to get out of there that they were just like, okay, whatever has to be done. So the boys were in chamber nine. So they had to go back through each chamber. And the plan was to go through the chambers

and then in each one stop in the air pockets and get some air and relax. And each of the dives would be about 15 minutes. And some parts of the cave were so narrow that they had only two feet of room to fit themselves and the child through. I can't even imagine it, literally gives me anxiety. Whew!

I feel like I would get so claustrophobic in that situation, I honestly can't imagine. And then at each stop, a different diver would take the child the next, you know, 15 minutes, they would just take turns doing it, and they would refill everybody's air tanks, make sure the kids were good, and then go back in into the next pocket. From chamber three to the entrance of the cave, it was about half a mile.

So the rescuers had to use something called a high line to help carry each boy out of the steep part of the cave. And finally, they got the boys out. And one by one, they brought them out, and immediately put them in ambulances, and brought them straight to the hospital. And they got all 12 boys and their coach successfully out of the cave, which is incredible. They did one at a time and each

rescue took about eight hours to complete, but by July 10th all of the boys and their coach had been taken out of the cave and were at the hospital. And this was obviously a huge side of relief to the whole world. I mean it was crazy to think that they actually survived this. I really don't think anyone was expecting them to. And so it was really, really exciting. The parents were so grateful. They weren't mad at the coach at all. They weren't blaming him.

All the rescuers then exited the cave. And they were met with cheers and celebration when they got out of the cave. I mean, oh my gosh, I can't imagine. I would be so tired after something like that. So what turned out to be something that could have been really, really tragic turned into an incredible story of survival. And even though one person was lost, you know, overall to have all 12 children's safe was really a miracle. Four of the boys had birthdays while they were in the cave.

I'm sure they will always remember those birthdays. And the response was so amazing from all of the local people in Thailand. People were cooking for them, cleaning for them, helping the families as much as they can. There was money raised. People all over the world were inspired by this story. The classmates and teachers of the team

had spent time chanting and praying for the missing boys. And classmates of one of the boys even made 1,000 paper cranes for him while praying for his safe return, which is really cool. Local schools donated money to help with the parents living costs as many of them stopped working in order to follow the rescue attempts. The boys even actually got to come out to America and beyond the Ellen DeGeneres show, which was very exciting for them, and one of the boys even talked about how he wanted to be a professional soccer player one day to take care of his family. And as you may have guessed, there is a movie being made about this.

It's going to be called The Cave, and it's going to star one of the real rescuers in the movie as himself, which is actually pretty cool. The boys got to do a bunch of different cool things, and they have been, you know, kind of celebrated all over. So in the end, this ended up being a pretty incredible story. I think stories like this are so interesting. I find human resilience so incredible. It's amazing what people will go through and what they will be willing to do or the conditions that they can survive in.

Are truly amazing. And it's also amazing what the rescue team was able to pull off with this. I mean, they were able to get them all out successfully, which is just incredible. I'm so glad this story turned out while I remember really thinking the worst and being so shocked when it turned out that they were actually all alive. That is going to be it for me today guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show,

you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there. Mornings are coming on strong with dark and bold from community coffee. I feel like bustle loose, ah, bustle loose, come on! Get, get, get, get, get on up, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, It's time to go! Bustin' loose when you're born or sick Bustin' loose baby do your thing Talk about bustin' loose Dark and bold from Community Coffee Look for it at your local grocery or community coffee.com

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