All language subtitles for The.Rescue.2021.1080p.BluRay.x265-RARBG

- We need sand bag.
- Uh-huh.

To stop water come in.
And we need generator.

To pump water out.

[Wern] We need to do it quick.

If they've gone this way,
no, they die already.

They know what to do, yeah?

The boys, aged
between 11 and 16 years old,

are all members of
a Thai soccer team.

They became stranded
in the dark tunnels

after a sudden and continuous
downpour blocked all exits.

This rain
is gonna get worse and worse

as the months go by.
Four months of monsoon.

It'll flood out
that cave system,

so there will be no hope of
getting out

if they don't get them out
very soon.

Before they
went into the cave complex,

they were planning
to celebrate a birthday party

and that's what the boys
were doing when they found,

suddenly, it was raining
heavily outside the cave

and the water level
inside started increasing.

I've been involved very heavily

with the exploration
of the cave.

That's how I became
known as, you know,

locally, the crazy farang caver.

This is the junction.

When I first started exploring

the tham luang cave system,
it was just over 6.5km long.

Over the years,
we'd extended it to 10km.

And today, it's the fourth
longest cave system in Thailand.

Tham luang is made up
of three main passages.

One runs from the entrance
to Sam yaek,

known as the t-junction.

Water had come in
from the right-hand branch,

and it blocked their route out.

So the boys weren't actually
missing, they were trapped.

The Navy seals,
with respect, you know,

they're a strong,
disciplined outfit,

but cave diving
needs specific skills

and specific types of equipment.

Went to what
we call the war room.

I waited for governor narongsak
and in my normal, blunt way,

said to him, "sir, you have
one chance at this rescue."

I told them that we need
expert cave divers out here.

He showed this note

to the minister of interior

saying, "these are the best
cave divers in the world."

Get the spy on, Mr. Stanton.

- Yep, how many?
- Two. And quite a thick one.

That's four quid.

When I see a dark space
in a cave, it fascinates me.

It's like,
"I wonder what's there?"

For most people
it's an alien environment.

It's dark.
It could be claustrophobic.

To most people
that would be a disaster

but this is the strange world
that I enjoy,

caving, cave diving.

You can look at a cave
in two ways.

You could say, "I'm under
hundreds of feet

"and tons and tons of rock,
my life's in danger"

or you can say "my world is
this small passage.

"Actually it's okay.“

I think this was
just a cunning ploy.

For people of my generation

in the cave diving world,
Rick and John,

they're like the figureheads,
the idols to us.

The first time I dived with Rick

was in this cave in New Zealand
called the pearse resurgence,

which is an extraordinarily
intimidating place.

It's really deep.
It's freezing cold.

It's black,
like it soaks up your light.

I'd heard about the famous
Rick Stanton of course,

but he turns up
with this dry suit

that looks like
it's 50 years old

and he's got
this home-made harness

with a big lump of lead
between his shoulder blades

that's sort of sticky-taped on.

And he's got a home-made
sidemount rebreather.

I mean, both those words
are terrifying.

The sidemount rebreather
was made from scratch

because there wasn't
such a thing available.

All the components
were made by me

on a lathe or a mill.

So Rick,
using this extraordinary bit

of home-made kit,

jumped in the cave and casually
swims down to a new record.

And we're all just going,
"far out.

"There's no way
I will ever be like that guy."

John and I have been involved

in some very significant
caving events

which take you
right to the edge.

And just going to those places,
you can't fail to have a bond.

John's one of these people
that's done lots of activities

and does them all with
a huge degree of success.

First it was marathons,

then he got on
to ultra-marathons.

Very competent climber,
really good kayaker.

Doing all
these dangerous things,

has that made relationships
difficult for you?

Well, I wouldn't...

Just because an activity
is seen as dangerous,

doesn't mean to say that
you do it in a dangerous manner.

But to answer your question,
probably yes.

Just too well.

I don't know how
to explain this. Mm.

Did you fall in love?

Yes.

Amp called me and she said,

"have you heard,

"there's a football team
trapped in a cave."

I was thinking, "this has
got our name all over it."

We realised that we had
a contact on the ground.

A British guy, vern unsworth,
he knew the cave very well.

Vernon had got the critical note

to the Thai minister
of tourism and sport.

Vernon rang and said,
"you're coming to Thailand

"and you're on the 9.30 flight
that night."

They flew us business class,

which was quite an experience.

I quite liked that.

That was great,
because we are volunteers,

we don't get paid.

We arrived
in chiang rai airport.

There was
a big sign up that said,

"welcome to the world's
best cave divers"

and we were marched out
to this sign

and had to pose in front of it.

All very embarrassing.

When we arrived
at the cave site,

there was complete chaos.

I've had a full career
in the fire service,

I've been to big incidents,
I've seen chaos, but not,

not at this scale.

We were followed around
by press cameras.

There were rescue people
everywhere.

Where's the people who are
supposed to be meeting us?

Somehow we managed to find vern.

He said they'd seen the cave
progressively flood

in the last three days.

Just too much flow.
It was a difficult time.

Some people were
thinking, you know,

"are the kids still alive?"
"Where can they be?

We decided we wanted to go in

and see as much as possible
before it flooded further.

As we walked
in the entrance chamber,

which was a huge chamber,

there were
electric lights blazing,

hoses and pumps
and telephone wires.

Although the governor
was in charge of the incident,

he had devolved all
responsibility for the diving

to the Navy seals
and they were very clear

that they wouldn't let us
go in the water.

Our area of expertise
is different.

At that point,
it's really not safe to go in.

The UK team still insist.

It got quite heated.

You understand, there
are 13 children in the cave.

I don't care what you say.

The argument went
all the way up top.

He actually told the UK guy,
“if you die in there,

don't expect us
to go fetch your body."

If you are the Thai Navy seals

and suddenly two scruffy looking
middle-aged men turn up,

I can see how that really is
a bad start to a relationship.

When we got out,
it really was raining,

absolute monsoon stair rods.

We were taken back to the hotel

in the back of an open pickup,

literally cowering
behind the cab

to try and get out of the rain.

John and I had
to share a double bed.

We, um... We do top and tail.

So the next morning,
John and I set off

from the entrance chamber
with all our equipment,

our cylinders on our harness.

Nobody came in the cave with us.

Only 200m from the entrance,

water met the rock
and it was a proper sump dive.

From the entrance chamber
now to the second

and third chamber
was a river, a raging river.

The term I would use
is white water caving.

Very poor visibility,

really brown,
really chocolaty brown.

There's a ton
of man-made hazards as well.

Telephone wire, cables,
all sorts of things.

We surfaced in what
became known as chamber 3.

We thought we'd found
four of the football team.

They were pump workers.

They'd been asleep
on the sand bank,

missed the evacuation
and got flooded into the cave,

and nobody knew
they were missing.

We didn't know if that chamber
was gonna flood completely

in hours or minutes.

We needed to dive
these four guys out immediately.

They were terrified,

but they didn't have
another option.

We just gave them a regulator
from one of the cylinders

that was still attached to us.

So we have to keep
them very close to us,

or the regulator in their mouth
is gonna be pulled out

and they're not gonna
be able to breathe.

It's highly disorientating,

being led, basically blind,
underwater.

It was quite brutal.
They were banging their heads.

We were moving them around,
trying to find the right hole

for them to go through.

All of the pump workers
reacted the same.

The second they thought
they were under air space,

they kind of bolted up
without any thought.

I described it as
an underwater wrestling match.

After getting
the pump workers out,

we didn't turn round
and go back in the cave.

It was too dangerous.

The four water workers,
they were under water

for only 30, 40 seconds,

but they still panicked
and they were adults.

Now, we were talking
about a group of children.

We didn't think it was possible
for us to dive the children out.

Even if they were alive,
it can't be done.

Now what? What the hell
are we gonna do now?

The Thais were always praying

for success in the mission.

They believed that success
could only come

if they had the permission
from the guardian spirit.

I know, as soon as I got there,

I wanted to pay respects
to those shrines.

It has been
seven days since this team

of 12 Thai boys
and their football coach

has been missing
in this vast cave complex.

Water levels
in the cave have been rising,

going up overnight
by 6 inches every hour.

High water levels

have made the search
very challenging

with divers using huge pumps
to reduce some of that water.

The volunteers
have been travelling

to northern Thailand to help
with the rescue operation.

This has become
a worldwide rescue effort.

Volunteers
from Europe, Australia,

Asia and the us.

Today I'm training
in the khao yai national park.

We need gas really quick...

1,000 litres.

That evening,
we met the American military

who had deployed from Japan.

Rick and John were
very laid back, you know?

They were definitely not

what you're used to seeing
in the military,

shorts and flip-flops
and t-shirts.

But as I started
speaking with them,

I realised that they were
very highly skilled.

I had gone in myself
to chamber 3,

where I had to do
a couple of short dives,

but I was thinking to myself,
“this is absolutely horrible."

I remember John
kind of laughed at me

because he knew
the next question I had,

“why would someone
do this for fun?"

Cave diving for me is relaxing.

Nobody tells you what to do,
your time is your own.

It's very liberating,
but having said that,

most of the time it is jumping
into a muddy hole,

that's exactly right.

Caving is clearly about
the exploration side of it.

Some of the dives we do,
you could be hours in,

totally reliant
on artificial light,

artificial heating.

It's like being in space.

Probably the purest
adventure you could have.

It takes a peculiar type
of person

to be a cave diving explorer.

What makes someone
want to be an explorer?

I think it's two parts ego,
one part curiosity,

one part um, um...

Lack of confidence in yourself

and the need to prove yourself?

You know, maybe I was no good
at footie and cricket,

but at least I can, you know,
cave dive quite well.

I think it's fair to say
all of us were not team players.

None of us are very good
with ball skills.

I was a loser.

I'm terrible at team sports.

I think
"doesn't play well with others"

is the phrase
that you're looking for.

I was quiet and shy
and didn't like confrontation.

I wasn't so sociable.

I was bullied a bit
as a teenager, yeah,

'cause I was a bit different.

I've got a lazy left eye,
which, when I was younger,

actually pointed
in the wrong direction,

which is quite funny,
looking back on it,

'cause it was quite a big part
of my life at the time,

like I was quite self-conscious
about it, you know?

Kids are mean. Huh.

There's no question
that, in my younger years,

I started off perhaps
emotionally challenged.

Yeah, I wasn't
the most social person.

Bit of bullying at school
and stuff,

but the worst people,
I've blocked out of my mind.

But once I get underground,
that all disappears.

Can't see anything,
just my bubbles. Isolated.

This is the place
where I kind of feel comfortable

and feel like I feel safe.

Quiet and peace.

Get away from everything
in normal society.

Back to the age of the cave man.

It comes back
to that kind of ability

to expand your comfort zone,

but probably some people's
worst nightmares.

It's about controlling
your emotions and your fear,

because panic is death
in the cave.

There is
still a reason for optimism.

Medical experts say it is
possible to stay alive

for this period of time
without food,

but in an operation like this,

every hour is important
and every hour...

Even when it's not raining,
rescuers say

water is continuing
to seep into the cave.

They're up in the mountains
right now,

trying to divert it away.

You have to hike

and then you have
to actually look for places

where the water,
like, disappears.

If you found cracks,
we lay down plastic bags

and divert the water
by using sandbags and pipe.

Just behind us
there's some heavy equipment

that's been brought in here

to pump out more water
from the cave.

Howard,
we were talking yesterday

about the British divers
who've gone out there.

I asked them for an update

but they walked past,
very stony faced.

They've been
very media shy, actually.

They've been
keeping their heads down

and getting on with the job.

The next morning
we decided to see

if we could progress.

Now there was
another guy on the scene,

a Belgian guy
called Ben reymenants.

We met Ben when he was
coming out from his dive.

The three of us, chest-deep
in water in this little pool.

But he said it was impossible
to make progress.

The flow was so strong that
if I would have turned my head,

my mask would have
been ripped off.

My watch had broken
against the rocks,

my dry suit was leaking,
I couldn't properly breathe.

"This is suicide,
what am I doing?"

We essentially agreed that

the conditions in the cave
were impossible.

The monsoon had come early

and it wasn't gonna let up
for many months.

There was that
very strong feeling

that the children
couldn't be still alive.

It just didn't seem possible.
We'd lost hope.

The American contingent
also felt it's a lost cause.

We were really just kind
of just sat around waiting

for a body recovery.

Belgium come face to face

with the only Asian team
left in the competition.

People had their mobile phones

and were looking
at the world cup.

We just sat around.

We were quite despondent
with the fate of those children

in our thoughts.

We started to wonder,
do we actually need to be here?

We reached out
to the British consul saying

"can you sort some flights out?"

And that didn't
go down very well.

They're doing
everything possible

to stem the flow of water
into the cave system.

Standing here four days ago,

I would have been
knee deep in water.

It's quite a feat
of engineering.

Rick and I went
to the Americans and said,

"we wanna get back
in the game, can you help us?“

so eventually, the Thais
allowed us back in the cave.

On that Sunday morning,
Ben had done quite a bit of work

continuing the line
of the seals.

I give credit to Ben
and the seals

for persevering when we thought
it was absolutely impossible.

I am extremely
disappointed in myself

that we kind of gave up
when we did.

That shouldn't have happened.

We laid line on Sunday.

The next day, John and I
took another two bags of rope

to continue it.

One of the golden rules
of cave diving is

to have a continuous line
between you and safety.

After two or three hours,
we reached a junction.

Which is about 800m
beyond chamber 3.

Tham luang is one of
the longest caves in Thailand.

The cave lies under
the doi nang non mountain range.

From the entrance,
it's 800m to chamber 3.

Chamber 3 had enough dry land

that the seals
were in residence there.

Then beyond that, you're largely
in the water the whole way.

The next feature
is the t-junction.

Two underground rivers unite
at the t-junction

and then flow to the entrance.

We thought the possible place

where the kids
could have found sanctuary

was a place
called pattaya beach.

Pattaya beach is
the most comfortable area.

It was the highest area as well.

We progressed
by feel and dead reckoning.

We've no idea what
we're going to find.

So I was just feeling
around in the murk.

I had no idea whether we were
going to encounter dead bodies.

We were steeling ourselves
for that eventuality.

I know
what I was prepared to bump into

because I'd visualised it
very, very carefully.

I'm a great believer
in visualisation.

I try and put emotions in a box.

I can visualise a shelf

and I put the box
on the top shelf

and I leave it there
and I do what I need to do.

As we got to any air space,

I took my mask off
and had a sniff.

Caves have got
a very neutral smell.

You'd easily smell people that
had been in there for ten days.

Defecating, decaying.

Rick and I had already discussed

that we would lay the thick line
as far as we could,

then I had a reel of 200m
of thinner line.

We would use this to give us

maximum possible reach
into the cave.

Everyone had held
their hopes out

that the children were at
this place called pattaya beach.

We did know from the survey

that was the only section of
the cave that travelled due east.

So when our compasses
started to point east...

We were at
the mythical pattaya beach.

Everything was under water.

We actually retraced
our route there a few times,

but there was absolutely nowhere

a group of people
could have survived.

I was getting
quite keen to turn round,

because I was way beyond
any sensible air margin.

Rule number one, use a third
of your air on the way in,

a third on the way out and
you keep a third for spare.

But I just had this
powerful feeling that...

Just that it was time to push.
It was the right time to push.

So we continue upstream,
trying to follow the flow.

It was instantaneous,
a pungent smell.

Silence.

We both assumed

we were smelling
decomposing bodies.

There's something
unpleasant here.

And then suddenly
I saw a light flash.

John immediately
got out the camera.

Want me to light them up?

Yeah, best you can.

- How many of you?
- They're all alive.

- 13.
- 13?

- Yes, 13.
- Brilliant!

Yeah, yeah.

Believe. Believe.

On the audio,
there's me saying, “believe.“

that was me trying
to tell me this is real.

This is actually happening.

No, not today. Not today.

You have to dive.

We are coming, it's okay.
Many people are coming.

Many, many people.

We are the first.
Many people come.

Tomorrow.

No, no, no, what day
is it, they're asking.

- Monday.
- Monday.

Okay, but one week and Monday.

You have been here ten days.
Ten days.

You are very strong.
Very strong.

Okay, go back. We come, we come.

I know, I know, I understand.

We come, okay? We come.

We took our equipment off

on the other side
of the passage,

made our way over to them.

I mean, clearly John has a son
and then I haven't got children.

I have structured my life

to avoid children
as much as possible,

but John is a cub master

so he's used to dealing
with groups of children.

Say thumbs up. Say "yay!"

Yes!

He got them to do
a motivational exercise.

- Everybody say "yeah!"
- Yes!

Excellent!
Say, “hello, Americans!"

Hello, Americans!

Hello, Thai Navy!

Hello, Thai Navy.

Say, "hello, Australians!“

Hello Australians!

Hello, Chinese!

Hello, Chinese!

And thank you, everybody else.

And thank you, everybody!

Okay, we see you soon.

As we left,
pretty much all of them came

and hugged us individually.

I made them a promise
that I would come back.

I am very happy then.

We are happy too.

Yes, thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

So, where you come from?

- England, UK.
- Oh!

As we went round
the corner and kitted up,

total silence
between me and John,

just a look into each
other's faces thinking,

we may be the only ones
that ever see them.

That was a distinct possibility.

The whole journey back,
all I was thinking was,

“what on earth are
we going to do now?“

I surfaced first in chamber 3

where the Thai Navy seals
had their base.

13 alive!

- Oh!
- They're okay. Yeah.

Oh! You first! Phew!

Got a message.

Good job, men.

The seals immediately
relayed the news to the outside.

Shortly after we exited,

the footage was released
all over the world.

Live images
coming out of Thailand.

Dramatic breaking news.

You are very strong.

A true miracle.

The moment.

Thailand's
prayers have paid off.

Hey! Ho!

- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.

Your troops are doing
a really good job.

You too.

What
a remarkable turn of events.

I would like to say
thank you for everyone.

- We are family.
- Yes, yes.

That night, there was a battle
meeting at the American camp

with the Thai Navy.

This was a formal meeting
with rear admiral apakorn.

Rick and John told the Thais,

finding the boys
was the easy part

and they didn't have a clue
how to get those kids out.

Rear admiral apakorn
thanked us for our role

as being pathfinders

and he said the Thai seals
would take over

chain of command and you will
just be in an advisory role.

Suddenly it was like
a Navy going to war.

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

The Thai Navy seals carried in

vast quantities of equipment.
The piles of diving cylinders.

The task was absolutely
massive and crucial.

They had a lot of people
and a lot of equipment,

but we started to hear
that their first set of divers

had run into problems.

The four that were left
were effectively trapped in

with the children.

Authorities there are looking at

all of their options, none of them easy.

Right now, the preferable option

is to keep them down there.

It could be months
to get those boys out safely.

Sending in supplies and waiting

until the monsoon
and flooding is over,

they said that
could be till October.

The search also continues

in the hills and jungle
above the cave complex -

workers looking for any way
to get into the cave

beyond the flooded sections.

Another
possibility they're looking at

is drilling new entries into the
cave so they can pull them out.

Creating a shaft large enough

would be extremely complicated
and could take a long time.

The only real alternative

is to pump out the water.

They're
pumping out something like

1.6 million litres of water

and it only went down 1cm.

There was almost
a one in a billion chance

that any of these things
could have worked.

The Americans
were getting worried

and were asking us
was there anything we could do?

We said we didn't think
it was possible for us

to dive the children out.

The experience
with the four pump workers

was an indication of that,

where they couldn't even hold
it together for 30 seconds,

let alone two and a half hours.

We said, "it can't be done."

I was like,
well, what if it could?

What does
the impossible look like?

When we got back
to our resort that night,

we continued
thinking it through.

I texted an old friend,

Dr. Richard Harris
from Australia.

It was on the Thursday 5th July,

when I started exchanging
messages with Rick.

I said, is it possible
to anaesthetise the children?

My immediate response to Rick

was absolutely not.
It's not possible.

Early one morning,

Harry's phone had been
pinging away all night

and I had a look and saw
the message from Rick

saying what do you think about

sedating the boys
and diving them out

and I actually laughed.

Ilaughed.
It just, it sounded ludicrous.

I could think of 100 ways
a child would die very quickly.

For example,
to maintain your airway,

you need to keep their chin up.

At any time during the dive,

the child's airway
could obstruct.

They would asphyxiate.

Their sinuses
could fill up with blood,

they could drown
in their own saliva.

Honestly, I could talk for
an hour about the ways that

I thought these kids could die.

So the next morning,
we had a proper conversation

and he said he was willing
to consider it,

give it some thought.

At the same time,
we realised it's two days

since we found them
and no proper meals had gone in.

We took it upon ourselves

to scrounge some ration packs
off the Americans.

It just seemed
a bit ludicrous to me,

relying on bracelets.

I said, "Rick, those
kids really believe in spirits.

"It will improve their morale.
It really is important."

Then he calmed down, he said,
“okay, I'll take them."

It was a desperate struggle,

dragging these two huge bags
of food against the current.

My most difficult dive yet.

When we got to the children,

they were really excited
to see us.

Their morale was good.

We passed the bracelets
out to the boys one by one.

They knew what they were,
reaching out to get them.

Dr. Bhak put two of the boys
to work,

stacking the food
in neat, orderly piles.

They didn't tear into it.

As they were eating,
both John and I felt the air

was starting to feel
a little bit stale.

I think it's recording.

The effort
of climbing the slope,

the panting that was required.

That signal to count down.

It takes...
You can focus that close.

So I turned
the oxygen monitor on

and it immediately went
into full alarm

and registered 15%.

For the oxygen,
anything under 18%

is not sustainable to life
in the long term.

I couldn't look
the children in their eyes.

Breaking
news right now out of Thailand.

We just
found out that a Thai Navy seal

working to save
those young boys inside

that deep, dark cave has died.

The man who died was young, fit.

He was a former Navy seal.

Authorities say
38-year-old saman gunan,

who'd rejoined the seals
solely to help the search,

died from lack of oxygen.

The bundle of neoprene
wetsuits was really buoyant,

and would have been
a huge burden to take in.

On his way back,
he ran out of air

fairly close
to the third chamber.

Unfortunately it was saman,

it could have been
another one earlier on.

Saman is in the seals.

They were operating
in an environment

they're not used to.

None of them had dived in caves

and the kit they had
was completely unsuitable.

They were unbelievably brave.

The moment saman gunan died,

the rear admiral said,

"we won't be diving
to the boys any further."

And from that time on,
there was no further diving

by Thai seals beyond chamber 3.

The Thai Navy seals
put everything they had into it.

They risked their lives
I would say more than the brits,

but they didn't have
the skill set

and they couldn't
quite figure out

why these old men were a lot
better at doing it than them.

But no special force
in the world has those skills.

Only this private group
of people

who do it as a weekend hobby.

The moment I found the boys,

amp said I'd totally changed.

The responsibility,
despite not officially

being on my shoulders,
was morally on my shoulders.

It had to be us.

In the morning,
I had a chat with Harry.

I told him the truth. I said,
"sedation is the only option."

He said he'd come out to help us
but not to sedate them.

Maybe I sounded like
I just thought this would be

a good jolly
or a good adventure to Rick,

because he said to me
on the phone...

"If you come here
and you dive to the children

“and you're not prepared
to sedate them,

"you will see the children
and they will die.“

this plan's
still so preposterous,

surely this is not gonna work

and the thought of just
bringing out the bodies

of these kids
was just too much for me.

How many times have
you had to remove bodies

which have been left in caves?

It's not quite double figures

but I think it's around nine.

I went to Mexico in 1994,
in a very deep cave,

1000m deep cave,

and my best friend was operating
as a diver on that project

and he had an incident
and did die.

It was traumatic, 'cause
he was such a close friend

and it was so hands on.

It wasn't in a stretcher,
he wasn't wrapped up.

Despite Harry's scepticism,

I became more and more convinced

this was the only way.

So the next morning,
I told Derek the concept.

I told him,
that's a horrible idea,

and then Rick said,
"what if it's the only idea?"

I was highly sceptical,

but I believed in their talents
and their abilities.

I asked, "if you could
put together the best team

"in the world of guys that
you would need to do this,

"who would it be?"

I had a message
from John just saying,

"we don't think
the Thai military

can effect the evacuation."

"That means we need you
and you need Jason."

I was climbing

the internal structure
of a building.

Checked my phone and Chris says,

"we're flying out tonight."

I was a couple of days
from the end of my holiday.

I was on my way down
a mountain in Italy.

I get a text saying,
"how soon can you be ready?“

I was ringing my boss
to get time off.

I was actually meant
to attend my friend's stag do

on the Saturday.

When I realised that
I was gonna be headed over

to Thailand, I went in to visit
my dad in the nursing home.

His dad didn't understand

the cave diving thing.

Definitely less than me.

They had a bit
of a long-running joke.

He would constantly ask
when I was gonna give up

cave diving
'cause it worried him obviously

and I'd always joke
with him saying,

"well, actually,
that was my last dive.

“I'm finished now."

And he'd go, "that's great,
I'm so relieved!"

Then he'd look at me
and roar with laughter

as he'd realise
I was pulling his leg.

So we had a good chat
and I headed off the next day.

So when we arrived at the cave,

we step out of this minivan
to a sea of cameras

staring us down.

I found it really
frightening actually.

We found John and Rick.
They looked a big shagged.

The first thing I said was,

"look, I've gotta dive
the cave, get to the end,

“see the kids myself,
convince myself

“that there's no other way
to get them out."

My partner Craig and I
swam to the children.

It was just a muddy hole really.

As I surfaced,
the filth floating on the water

meant we're in the final chamber
where the kids were.

When I realised I was
about to meet these boys,

of course, I thought
about my own children.

I was slightly horrified
how thin they looked

and I could hear
a couple of them coughing,

pretty wet coughs.

They looked weak to me,
but it's incredible to me still

that there was not
one trembling lip,

not a tear, not any sign
of any concern.

I just spent
the whole time swimming out

thinking about
what we were gonna do

and I guess
that's when I decided that,

yeah, I'm just gonna have
to get on board with this plan.

At that point, we needed bodies,

we needed guys
who were able to help alleviate

some of the workload
off John and Rick.

We were kind of a team
living in Thailand already.

Kind of the technical
diving instructors.

Most of us were from Europe.

We rolled them in
immediately into our team.

The team was ready,
but the Thai authorities

were still unwilling
to make that decision

and give the go-ahead.

Conditions
worsening, air supply dwindling

and the other concern looming
is the monsoon rain.

We now had two ticking clocks,

the oxygen and the weather.

In the afternoons we get

thunderstorms that develop.

A tell-tale sign
of the monsoons really.

The Thai Navy
seals want zero risk.

That's not gonna happen.

But what appeared
to tip the balance

was a gentleman
called Josh Morris.

When I arrived, I said,

"I have a climbing and caving
school and I speak Thai."

Thanet and I
were working together,

and then I bumped into vern
who let me know,

kind of, things weren't
so hunky-dory.

I mean, I have access
to like, so I...

So they would listen to us now.

I bumped into him this morning
and I'd be happy to communicate.

Shall I take notes?

John was visibly stressed
and he said,

“if it rains
and the waters come up,

"nobody's getting in that cave.

"The conditions are terrible
in there.

"They're in those blankets
and everybody looks happy,

"but the room stinks,
they don't have any food,

"they've got cuts,
like they're gonna get sick."

I said,
"what are you talking about?

"I haven't heard any of that.
How much food do they have?"

And he said,
"they got about 100 meals."

- Oxygen's at what level now?
- So we measured it at 15.

- But we're not.
- It could be 16%.

That'll be quite safe.
How about the dive?

What do you guys
feel about that?

Just exceptionally risky,
but they haven't got any choice.

You don't think
there's any choice

- if they don't die...
- Are you recording?

Finally, we got the
audience we needed that night.

The minster of the interior
came and everybody ended up

in the room together
and I helped to translate.

We just walked him
through the plan.

I think the biggest questions
that people were having still

was, like, the risk, you know?

And like I told them,
it's extremely risky

but if you could give one kid
back to their parents alive,

that to me would be a success.

They asked me lots of questions.

Why was I choosing this drug,
these doses?

I had to keep
emphasising to them,

“look, this is my best guess.
Nobody's ever done it before.

"I am totally open
to a better suggestion."

I remember feeling like
a used car salesman

who was trying
to sell an old bomb

to some unsuspecting people
and I felt like just a liar.

They kept asking,
“can we just leave 'em there?"

That kept coming back
on the table and I said,

"well, we're running out
of oxygen.

"Also, we calculated 2000 meals
we'd have to bring in

"and once the rain
started again,

"you couldn't swim
against those flows."

And then thanet and I
ended up in another meeting.

At one point I said
to the minister,

“the only guarantee I can give
you is that if you don't dive,

"everyone will die.
I don't envy you, sir.

"Both choices are terrible,

"but one is worse
than the other.“

Still the following morning,

we didn't have the go-ahead,

but we came up
with the actual logistical plan,

the real nuts and bolts
of how it was going to work.

How we were going
to transport the boys,

how we're going to package them.

The cylinder was going to go
on the front of the child,

not the back.

So that when
they were floating face down,

that tank would act like a keel.

We worked out that you
needed positive pressure masks,

so if you made a leak, it would
go outwards and not inwards.

And the Americans happened
to have four of these masks.

So that meant
we had to go in multiple times.

We had to go in every day
for three days.

There was a demonstration
that was done.

The Americans called
it a roc drill.

A big drill called
a rehearsal of concept.

We kind of simulated
the extraction as best we could.

If the water comes up...

It was useful,
but it was more useful

for people making the decisions.
They suddenly realised,

there is some method
to the madness

and maybe we could pull it off.

One of the foreign affairs guys
from Australia

came up to me and said,

"look, in the interests
of full disclosure,

“I just need to tell you that
if something goes wrong

during the rescue,
it's not impossible that

you could end up
in the Thai judicial system."

I said, "wait,
you mean imprisonment?"

And he said, "yeah, that's
sort of worst case scenario

“and the rules here
are pretty harsh."

If things had gone wrong,

public opinion would have turned
against them very quickly.

There was
an extraction plan in place.

To put us in a Van, drive us
cross-country on back roads

to the embassy compound,
so all very James Bond-esque.

There is a green privacy screen

that has now been put up,

blocking the entrance
to the cave,

so this is perhaps another
indication that this rescue

could be incredibly close.

It was about 2am that the
minister for the interior said,

"okay, assume the plan
is going ahead tomorrow

and we'll give you
the green light in the morning.“

We had a debrief every night

and on the night before
the first rescue day,

which incidentally was
our 28th wedding anniversary,

but I spoke to him that night

and he outlined
what they were gonna do.

It was a terrible conversation
'cause he said,

"I don't think it'll work,

"I think they'll probably drown
under anaesthetic.“

I slept very badly
that night, lying in bed.

I thought, “who am I
to take this chance

"to get the kids out this way?"

But to walk away
and leave them in there,

that's impossible,
you can't do it.

The other thing that gave me
the courage

to go through with this
was my dad.

Dad was a doctor,
he was a vascular surgeon.

The thing
I've got from my father

more than anything was
the way to treat other people.

You know, he was
a very generous man.

It was a good lesson to me

to try and treat people
the way he did.

Reporters say
they've been ordered

to get back.

There are rumours
floating around the camp

that this rescue could even be
happening as soon as today.

The relatives can
only watch and wait anxiously.

Thai medical teams
are running rescue drills,

practising carrying...

I got the Thai
medical people overnight

to prepare all the drugs
into pre-filled syringes.

I had to basically teach
the rest of the divers

how to top up the child
with another injection.

The boys were gonna be
sedated in the final chamber,

but it would take more than
two hours to dive them out,

so that sedative would wear off.

It would be necessary for us
to re-administer that sedative.

So we had
a little anaesthesia 101 class.

I basically just said
stick it in their leg,

preferably in the outside
of their thigh,

jab it through the wetsuit

and it doesn't matter
if you hit the bone.

Nothing can possibly go wrong.

Once again,
lying through my teeth,

just to really give
them the courage to do it.

I have ten divers

ready to go
in the next 30 minutes.

The ropes team will consist of

6 Americans, 5 Australians,

5 Chinese and 6 rope
specialist civilians.

Chamber 3,

there will be
an entire national coordination.

We cordoned off
our section of chamber 3.

We brought in 15 body bags
in case things did go south.

I went straight
to the end of the cave,

along with Jason
and John and Harry.

We all knew
our position in the cave

and went in
roughly in that order.

I got the first boy ready

with the help of the seals.

You need to put this hood on,
put this buoyancy jacket over,

put these bungee cords round,
ready for the cylinder.

It was a very simple
combination of drugs

that I came up with.

Xanax was the tablet,

which has a very strong
anti-anxiety effect.

Dr. Bhak had given

the first tablet
to the first kid.

So I injected
the atropine into one leg first,

which has an anti-salivation
side-effect,

because they could drown in
their own saliva, potentially.

And then pretty much straight
away followed it up

with the injection
of ketamine in the other leg,

which is
the general anaesthetic drug.

I'd hold up the syringe
in front of them

and pat their leg
to let them know

they're about
to get an injection.

Once they were unconscious,

it was basically trying to put
a mask on a rag doll.

I didn't feel comfortable
in any way, shape or form

about what we were doing.

There were two things
that were really powerful.

That is pushing someone's face
undennater who is unconscious,

and then tying their hands
behind their back.

Both those things
feel very, very wrong.

Um...
Felt like euthanasia to me.

Mm.

On that first trip, Jason
yelled back to me and said,

"oh, Harry, he's not
breathing very much"

and I told the guys,
"this is a one way trip.

"Once you start,
you cannot stop.

“You can't come back to me
'cause there's nothing I can do.

"If you end up taking a body
out of the cave,

"then that's what
you're taking out of a cave."

In chamber 8, it felt
like we were waiting forever.

Suddenly the line twitched
and Jason comes up with a child.

I'm looking for a breath.

I can only say that

there was just
this huge tension in the air.

The fact that
he was still alive,

it was just like a weight had
been lifted off my shoulders.

But that was only 300m,
they still had 1.5km

to get out of the cave.

And then he actually
started twitching,

moving the fingers.
He looked a bit like a zombie.

Our eyes were agog with this.

We gave him another injection
there and we transported him

over the dry chamber
to the next flooded section.

John took the second child.

I remember John
looked at me and he said,

"what's his name?"

"I don't know, John."

I was nervous.
I would go further than that.

I would say
I was shitting myself.

As I swam him out, I just
remember feeling ownership

and determination that I'd make
damn sure my child survived.

Chris took the third child.

You couldn't see
your hand in front of your face

and occasionally
you'll get a glimpse

of something through the murk.

I remember trying
to wriggle through holes

that I couldn't wriggle through,
finding a bigger space

and then that repeating
again and again.

After the first
submerged section,

I carried on out
with the lad that I had.

I surfaced in a deep water canal
and there was no dry land,

but he was starting
twitching again,

so I got the vials
of ketamine out.

My hands are shaking 'cause I've
never given an injection before.

I managed to get
one of the vials,

got a separate needle,
took it out of its holder,

stabbed myself in the finger.

I'm lucky that's not connected
to the vial of ketamine,

otherwise there'd be two bodies
floating on the surface.

Gave him that injection.

Sure enough,
he had stopped twitching.

John came into the chamber

and the child didn't appear
to be breathing right.

I had to change
the oxygen cylinders

for the child.

I couldn't get him breathing
again with the mask on.

Take the mask off.

I did take the mask off
and it did improve

then we'd put the mask back on
and it would get worse again.

And this went on
for a couple of times.

John was really worried.

I wanted to bolt for the exit

and it would have been finished.

It really felt like
a sheer act of will

because every fibre
in my being wanted to be out,

but I knew
that I couldn't do that,

because I knew I'd end up
with a corpse at the end,

rather than a child.

By the time
John left with the kid,

it looked like we did fix it.

When you got back
to the final flooded section,

that was always
the hardest sump to go through.

You couldn't fit through
with a kid on either side.

You had to push him
through first

and then you went
through after him.

And then, as you approached
chamber 3,

you'd hear
the humming of the pumps.

I surfaced with a boy.

A dozen hands there ready
to take the child off you,

straight into another stretcher.

- 30 kilos!
- 30 kilos.

Kid number one's
alive, breathing.

I think that was
a huge morale boost.

Ready, one, two, three.

I surfaced in chamber 3
with my child.

Relief.

One, two, three, pull.

Pull! Pull! Pull! Pull!

There are reports,

I must stress
they are unconfirmed,

that two boys have now
emerged from the cave.

Just seconds ago,

we saw another ambulance
going in.

Perhaps a third
will be extracted.

I arrived with my boy.

Handed this precious cargo off.

I remember John saying to me,

"we've got three for three.
Amazing! Three for three."

And he looks at me and said,
"come on, Stanton,

"don't it up.
We gotta get four for four."

Rick took the last child

and he's heading
out of the cave,

I said to Dr. Bhak,

"well, that's it,
let's do four tomorrow."

As I swam out to chamber 8,

completely zero visibility,
my hands running along the rope.

Suddenly I put my hand
on something

that felt like a dead fish.

Craig and Rick
were looking quite anxious

saying, "quick, get out,

"we don't think
this kid's breathing."

I quickly got my gear off.

I thought, "well, this is it,
the first one's died."

He looked pretty blue.
Very cold and lifeless

and I actually couldn't convince
myself that he was breathing.

I was about to start
mouth to mouth,

but just before I did,
I gave his jaw a real hard push

to open his airway a bit

and he actually started
breathing with that.

But I still was really worried.

I still couldn't conceive
that this child would make it.

It was like that the whole way,

between two and a half
and three hours.

Just for my own sanity,
I would roll him over

so I could look into his face.

He looked asleep, except
he happened to be under water.

The moment you surface,

a fantastic sense of elation
and achievement.

There was a sense of disbelief

that this technique worked.

Four of the young soccer players

trapped in that cave
in Thailand are out.

So eight boys
and their coach remain trapped.

Their lives still
hanging in the balance.

This isn't over.

We'd just pulled off
something we thought

was unbelievable and incredible.

We had to do it twice more.

Breaking news
is out of Thailand.

A boy was seen
transported on a stretcher.

The fifth boy to be rescued,

one boy was taken
from the cave this morning.

Right there is an ambulance

that we believe to be
carrying that sixth boy.

This operation is being executed

extremely smoothly.

That appears to be the seventh.

The boys are coming out.

It's not the seventh child.

It is the eighth child!

Wild boar eight, out.

It's one more day
on the weather...

The last several days
they've had enormous luck.

These monsoon rains
seem to have held off.

But the forecasts
we kept getting were,

it's gonna rain imminently.

And it did.

It lashed it down.

It never stopped.

These rains will
flood the caves very quickly.

We spent the night
listening to the rain.

It was really,
really hammering down.

Wondering what was
gonna happen in the cave.

It's the only time
I've ever seen Rick and John

look anxious,

which was actually starting
to unsettle Craig and me.

We got up in the morning

and the whole place
was just awash with water.

We worried that the dams
that diverted the water

would be breached.

We couldn't hold off forever.

The water diversion
will not last.

That's gonna destroy everything.

When we got to our pre-dive
briefing in the morning,

some of the guys were saying,

“should we be going
into the cave?

"Should we be
risking our lives?"

Then there were others saying,
“what if we didn't go in today

"and then tomorrow
there was no more opportunity?"

I felt like I had to shut
that down really quickly.

We just got up and walked
straight to the cave

and everybody else followed,
so that was the decision made.

So we realised
we were going to attempt

five people on the last day.

Before heading into the cave,

the decision was made that
I would be the one to bring out,

the first child that day.

As I was swimming,
my mind was in overdrive.

“Oh, my god,
am I gonna be good enough?

"What about the parents
and the friends in the cave?"

It's a huge burden.

If they die,
it's gonna tear me apart.

Am I gonna start drinking,
you know, go off the rails.

I was given the coach.

As soon as I was holding him,

I switched
to getting the job done.

Everything was going quite well.

I remember those last few
minutes, thinking to myself,

"I'm nearly there,
what am I gonna do?"

'Cause I was pretty close
to my threshold.

"Am I gonna start crying
when I deliver him?"

Are you okay,
everything, you're okay?

- Yes, sir.
- Thank you. Okay, okay.

No, no, no!

John arrived after me,
then Rick arrived

and Chris was
due to come out next.

Kept waiting and waiting
and waiting

and hejust didn't come.

I got all the way back
to the final underwater section,

the most awkward section.

Got the boy with me
at this point,

you know, my precious cargo.

It's not a normal place

to have a line above you
like that,

so he'd have been on his side,
child in one hand,

line in the other above you.
Quite an awkward position.

And then something
on that last day changed

and we all had problems
in that section.

Just as I was going
round one of the corners,

I needed to transfer the rope
from one hand to another hand,

but it just pinged
away from my hand.

This precious line that ensures

that we're gonna get out
the water in one piece,

the thing you never lose,

the thing you never let go of,

I managed to let go of.

I didn't know if the boy
might run out of gas.

There's just myself
and Dr. Harris in the water

in chamber 9.

Everybody else had
gone out by this point.

I thought the smallest
child had already gone,

but the last kid to walk down
the hill was this boy,

Mark, who was 29 kilos.

Mark, who was by far
the most small-faced,

petite kid of them all.

We looked at
each other and thought,

that mask isn't gonna fit him.

We can't leave him here today
and come back tomorrow

'cause I don't think there's
gonna be a chance tomorrow.

We tried the mask and we tried
packing stuff around

and putting the hood under it.

Trying to tighten it up
as tight as possible

so we're literally
crushing the kid's nose,

but there was no way
it was gonna keep water out.

For some reason, we'd brought

this more leisure type
full-face mask too.

Compared to the other ones,

it looked like
a little pink toy.

And when we tried
cranking the straps down

on this leisure mask,
the seal collapsed

and then water entered.

So we backed it off, tried
again and it collapsed again.

It just sat on his face
and you knew that

if it took a sideways knock,
that would have been curtains.

Jason, I could see,
was very unhappy about it.

The very last child
and I'm thinking,

“poor Jason, you know,
the last kid is gonna be

“the one to drown and Jason's
gonna have to deal with that."

I had to go
so slowly, so carefully.

We were waiting and
waiting and Chris didn't come,

so I was quite anxious.

Despite sweeping around
in the water

to try and find this rope,
I couldn't find it.

I kept finding
an electrical cable.

That electrical cable
probably goes back to chamber 3,

so I started following it.

After, I guess,
what was ten minutes,

I popped up into a chamber.
I was confused.

I was expecting
to surface in chamber 3

where the rescue workers were,

but I surfaced
in a chamber that was empty.

Hello! Hello! Hello!

If I've managed to find
an unknown chamber,

completely off the main route,
nobody's gonna come and find us.

I surfaced in the last
air chamber with the child

and immediately in front of me
there was this apparition

of Chris and there was
a child at his feet

and my immediate thought was
we've lost one.

Mate, what's happened?

When I saw Jason,
I realised I'd gone backwards

in the cave. I realised
I was back in chamber 4.

Jason headed
into the final section

and then Harry appeared.

I said, “look, mate,
you just stay here,

"gather your thoughts. I'll take
the kid out the last bit.

"You come through
when you're ready."

I heard that
humming of the pump.

I knew I'm nearly at chamber 3.

Just before I handed
the kid over,

I got a lump in my throat
'cause I knew

he was gonna be out alive.

Okay, three, two, one!

When we heard Harry
was bringing Chris' boy forward,

I was confident in Harry
and pleased for him as well

that he was able
to experience that.

There's these big guys
from the us air force there,

grabbing the kid off you

and whisking him
into a stretcher

and off up the hill
and then he'sjust gone.

Suddenly the mood
was just amazing.

Passing around a bottle
of Jack Daniel's.

That wasn't really allowed.

Bloody done this.
I can't believe it.

I knew
the Thai Navy guys and Dr. Bhak

still had to come out and we
were still worried about them.

They still had
a challenging dive.

And suddenly there's this cry
of something's going wrong.

One of the main pumps
in chamber 3 burst

and just started spewing
water everywhere.

Oh, my god,
it's rising really fast

and we got no regulators,
we need to get out of here.

We were waiting
on just two more seals

and as that water
started to crest,

those seals came out.

Then the whole chamber flooded.

We just barely got out
by holding our breath.

We were saying that this must be
that the lady of the cave said,

"and now you guys got what you
wanted and now it's time to go."

Oh! Thank you!

And then the seals were
coming out right at the end.

Even though we were
the spearhead to this operation,

there were hundreds and hundreds
of people in that cave.

I'd sensed that the lady
opposite me was titan's mother,

the youngest boy that I'd
brought out on that last day.

Titan's mum said,
“on behalf of all the parents,

"wanna thank you
for what you've done.

"It's like our children had died
and been given another life

“and, you know,
can't thank you enough."

That's what brought home
what we'd done.

They had a family life
and parents.

Don't forget Thailand.
This is your second home.

This amazing sense of
relief and euphoria and elation.

I'd had my usual
text message saying

"I'm out, I'll ring you
when I get back to the hotel."

So he finally rang.

And I'm just babbling.

I'm just completely pumped

full of adrenaline
at this point.

And I must have gone on
for ten minutes or something

at least and finally
I sort of draw breath

and then suddenly
she's burst into tears.

And, yeah, she tells me
my dad's just died,

literally a couple of hours ago.

So I didn't know
what to feel, you know?

It was this huge
swing of emotions

from being up here to suddenly

“what? How has this
possibly happened today,

"you know, of all days?"

Everyone was very sympathetic.

They all assumed
that I'd wanna go straight home,

which I thought about,
but then I thought,

that's actually
not gonna help me

and even by the end
of that first day,

I was already sort
of feeling better about it all

because dad had a fantastic life

and, you know,
he'd just died like that.

And I thought, well, you
couldn't ask for a better exit.

And so I sort of started
to see the positive side of it

and started to think,

well, this is actually
another cause for celebration.

You know, I was celebrating
the kids but also my dad.

Thank you so much.

Miracle piled upon miracle.

I think I hold a sort
of great pride in what we did.

You could sayjustification
for all the dedication

I put fonnard
into a ridiculous minority sport

that no one ever took seriously.

Yes, it's definitely
changed my life.

It's made me into maybe
a more confident person.

Last to be chosen
for the cricket team,

first to be chosen
for the cave rescue.

I did used to worry,
was I a bit too cold?

Was I a bit too unemotional?

I found a use and a purpose
to that level of detachment.

You can use it
to do good things.

The wild boars.

"He said...
You need to marry amp."

J“ they said it can't be done

j“ that this one's a challenge
you won't overcome

j“ I know your dreams are bold

j“ keep going you'll find that
you're not on your own

j“ 80 don't give up

j“ and don't give in

j“ you've gotta believe,
believe, believe

j' that anything is possible

j“ you've gotta believe,
believe, believe

j' that anything is possible

j“ you've gotta keep on
and see it through

j“ no matter how hard
that is to do

j“ you've gotta believe to find
the fire that's inside you

j“ you've gotta believe

j“ 80 here we are

j“ with billions of prayers
out there floating like stars

j“ I know it's seems hard

j“ just hold onto hope
'cause you've made it this far

j“ soon you'll be
out of the dark

j“ 80 don't give up

j“ and don't give in

j“ you've gotta believe,
believe, believe

j“ that anything is possible

j“ you've gotta believe,
believe, believe

j“ that anything is possible

j“ you've gotta keep on
and see it through

j“ no matter how hard
that is to do

j“ you've gotta believe to find
the fire that's inside you

j“ you've gotta believe

J“ you've gotta keep on
and see it through

j“ no matter how hard
that is to do

j“ you've gotta believe to find
the fire that's inside you

j“ you've gotta believe j“