Earlier today, it was announced that the last of the 12 young Thai soccer players and their coach were rescued from a flooded cave where they have been trapped for 18 days.
From CBS News:
Thailand’s Navy SEALs, who were central to the rescue effort, said on their Facebook page that the remaining four boys and their 25-year-old coach were all brought out safely Tuesday. Eight of the boys were rescued by a team of Thai and international divers on Sunday and Monday.
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” the SEALs said, referring to the name of the boys’ soccer team. “Everyone is safe.”
Discovery Channel is moving at warp speed to air a documentary on the extraordinary rescue that claimed the life of one Thai Navy SEAL and required an international team (including Americans) to save the boys and the coach.
From the inbox:
DISCOVERY CHRONICLES THE HARROWING STORY AND EXTRAORDINARY RESCUE OF THE THAI SOCCER TEAM THAT IS CAPTIVATING THE WORLD IN
OPERATION THAI CAVE RESCUE
The 1-hour Special Set to Air on Friday, July 13 at 10:00pm ET/PT on Discovery Channel
Will Air on Saturday, July 14 at 10:00pm ET/PT on Science Channel
From the moment the heartbreaking news broke that 12 young Thai soccer players and their 25-year-old coach were stuck in a cave complex near the Myanmar border, the world has been glued to the rescue and recovery details. For over two weeks, the facts of how the group ended up in the cave and the subsequent mobilization of rescue workers around the globe has been a testament of just how powerful human spirit can be—while the sudden and tragic death of one of the rescue divers underscored the seriousness of the situation.
But as each boy has been pulled out, there remains many questions. Why were these boys there? How did they survive for nearly two weeks without food and without knowing how to swim? What will their physical and mental state be moving forward? What would it take to get this group out of this treacherous cave, and why did the unique geology of this cave present so many challenges? OPERATION THAI CAVE RESCUE will be the first documentary to explore and unpack every angle of this remarkable rescue operation.
Produced in association with ITN Productions, Discovery’s OPERATION THAI CAVE RESCUE unpacks the human and scientific drama behind one of the most difficult and heart-palpitating rescues attempted in human history. With exclusive early access to men and women – including family members – who have been living and breathing the events, OPERATION THAI CAVE RESCUE focuses on the triumph of the human spirit and the extraordinary scientific and technological innovations used to complete this miracle rescue. As the clock continues to tick, and predicted Monson rains loom above, rescuers in the cave and above ground, plot their next move. Featuring interviews with medical and mental health experts, renowned cave diving instructors and the world’s leading cave diving rescue experts, the film paints a full picture of what the boys and their rescuers were experiencing and how these heroic divers could recover what was thought initially to be an impossible feat.
As the last boys and their coach were rescued on July 10, the world finally exhaled that breathe that has been held for 18 days. Now we collectively search for answers to understand the mystery of what happened and how, with one slight difference, the outcome might have been different.
OPERATION THAI CAVE RESCUE is produced for Discovery Channel by ITN Productions. Jon Bardin and Andrew O’Connell serve as executive producers for Discovery. Ian Russell serves as Executive Producer for ITN Productions.
For further updates, click here to check out the Facebook page of the Thai Navy SEALS.
Reportedly, faith-friendly producers PureFlix are on site scouting the possibility of a film, trying to get ahead of any rivals.
From Newsweek:
But while divers risk their lives to get the team out, two Hollywood producers are beginning a project telling the boys’ story. The managing partner of the Pure Flix film company, Michael Scott, told the AAP news agency that he sees the flooded cave saga “as a major Hollywood film with A-list stars.”
The New York Times tells us more about the team, including a 14-year-old multilingual boy, Adul, who acted as an intermediary.
MAE SAI, Thailand — Adul Sam-on, 14, has never been a stranger to peril.
At age 6, Adul had already escaped a territory in Myanmar known for guerrilla warfare, opium cultivation and methamphetamine trafficking. His parents slipped him into Thailand, in the hopes that proper schooling would provide him with a better life than that of his illiterate, impoverished family.
But his greatest escape came on Tuesday, when he and 11 other members of a youth soccer team, along with their coach, were all finally freed from the Tham Luang Cave in northern Thailand, after an ordeal stretching more than two weeks.
…
On Tuesday, the border town of Mae Sai, where Adul lived at a church, finally had cause to celebrate, as the Wild Boars’ 18-day ordeal came to an end. In a three-day rescue mission, Adul and 12 others were safely extracted from the cave by a team of dozens of divers, doctors and support staff.
Later in the story, it’s revealed that Adul’s parents left him with a Baptist pastor and his wife, to prevent the boy from being pressed into service as a guerrilla fighter.
Image: Thai Navy SEALS/Facebook
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