‘We just couldn’t get it to seal’: Last perilous moments of Thai cave rescue

HE was the last boy divers needed to get out of the Thai cave. As rescuers strapped on his mask, their stomachs dropped.

AS THE world held its breath awaiting the rescue of the last of 12 boys from deep within a Thai cave, British rescue diver Jason Mallinson was going through fresh horror.

The 13-year-old boy, already sedated in preparation for his dangerous extraction from the Thai cave that had imprisoned him and 12 others, was already drowsy in Mr Mallinson’s arms.

Mallinson reached for the breathing mask to fit to the young boy’s face.

As he fiddled with the straps, he realised with dread the mask did not fit the boy’s tiny face.

It just wouldn’t seal. The boy’s face was too small.

“We put it on him, really strapped down tight so his nose was flattened against his face and there was a big gap under his chin. We just couldn’t get it to seal,’ Mr Mallinson told ABC’s 20/20.

Without a seal, Mr Mallinson knew the boy would drown.

A team of more than 150 worked together to free the group from Tham Luang cave, a 10-kilometre long limestone cave system, in an operation that scared even the most seasoned professionals.

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For the dangerous three-hour long journey, each of the children was sedated to stop them from panicking. The rescue was so dangerous the Australian Government negotiated immunity from Thai authorities for any Australians involved in the sedation of the children in case anything went wrong.

The journey was broken up into nine sections and expert British divers were responsible for bringing them through the most complicated spots, using guide lines to help them navigate the passageways.

There was no way to contact rescuers at the Tham Luang cave entrance to bring a fresh mask.

No time to bring one in even if they could. Mr Mallinson needed to act. Now.

Postponing the rescue was not an option.

“We knew we didn’t have any more time and we knew this was the last option,” Mr Mallinson told 20/20.

“Once you set off with that kid, it was a one-way journey. You weren’t going back to where they started. … It was a case of getting him out. A bit brutal … but dead or alive.”

The last-minute decision diver made when rescuing last boy from Thai cave: “We knew this was the last option.” British diver Jason Mallinson tells @MattGutmanABC he had to use a different diving mask after the first one didn’t fit the team member. #ABC2020 https://t.co/XZjmrq1Yo2 pic.twitter.com/nmL56kHzeM

— 20/20 (@ABC2020) July 26, 2018

Mr Mallinson had to work with what he had. He hastily tried a different mask, one he hoped would seal, and hold.

Then, he just had to go.

“It was so nervous for me because it was the different type of mask with this seal that you could dislodge sideway. I had to be so careful with him,” he said.

“GET THEM OUT FAST”

It was the latest hurdle in a rescue operation already intricate and risky, and becoming more perilous by the minute.

Mr Mallinson made the call and took the plunge, knowing with every movement the replacement mask could come off the boy if it was bumped.

The progress was agonising. Barely able to see his hand in front of his face, Mr Mallinson grimly focused on keeping the boy’s head from smashing on the cave walls.

He would pull the boy’s head tightly into his chest, protecting it with his own so it would hit the wall first.

All the while, he kept moving, the warnings of Australian anaesthesiologist and fellow rescuer Dr Richard Harris ringing in his ears: ‘No matter what happens, get them out as fast as possible. Hypothermia is going to be a big issue here.’.

Meanwhile, up ahead, fellow rescuer Chris Jewell was having problems of his own as he rescued the second-last boy.

“We knew we didn’t have any more time,” Mallinson tells ABC 20/20. Picture: Twitter/@ABC2020

As he manoeuvred the boy, he’d managed to let go of the guideline painstakingly installed by rescuers to guide them to safety.

Feeling blindly in the dark, he grabbed the first line his hands found, and, disoriented, followed it.

Somehow, he ended going back in, bearing his precious cargo.

Rescuers make their way through the waterlogged, murky mission deep in a Thai cave. Picture: Thai Navy SEAL via Getty

“I surfaced in a different section of the cave and I really didn’t know where I was for several minutes,” Mr Jewell told 20/20.

He was back in Chamber 4.

Disaster was averted yet again when Dr Harris and Mr Mallinson caught up, and Dr Harris removed the boy from the rocks Mr Jewell had been resting him on, and moved on through the murky water, Mr Jewell close behind.

They emerged with the boys to relief and applause, but told 20/20 they don’t feel like heroes.

“I just feel like someone who was in the right place at the right time with the right skills to make a difference,” Jewell said.

Originally published as ‘We just couldn’t get it to seal’: Last perilous moments of Thai cave rescue