Thai cave rescue: new videos of boys in hospital and from inside rescue

First images of the Wild Boar team in hospital emerge as footage from inside the cave reveals the hazards of their dramatic rescue | WATCH

The young members of the Wild Boar team rescued from flooded caves after 17 days underground have been lauded as “strong in heart and mind” as new video shows them waving from their hospital beds.

The 12 boys, their faces covered by green surgical masks, flash the V-for-Victory sign as they sit up in bed and chat with their nurses, at times responding with the ‘wai’, the customary Thai sign of respect — hands pressed together while bowing the head. The youngest boy, 11, appears to be asleep under a crisp white sheet.

The boys sit up in bed giving the V for Victory sign. Picture: AFP/.

Their complex, hazardous rescue through kilometres of water-filled passages in the Tham Luang cave in Mae Sai has been revealed in dramatic new video released by the Thai navy, as details of their rescue — and the moment it nearly went tragically wrong — emerges from the international team of rescuers involved in the operation to extract them safely.

At times the boys had to be put in harnesses and high-lined across the rocky caverns while at other times, they endured dives lasting up to half an hour in the pitch-black waters, said one of the Americans involved in the operation.

“The world just needs to know that what was accomplished was a once in a lifetime rescue,” said Derek Anderson, a 32-year-old rescue specialist with the US Air Force based in Okinawa, Japan.

“We were extremely fortunate that the outcome was the way it was. It’s important to realise how complex and how many pieces of this puzzle had to come together.”

Video on the Thai Navy SEALs Facebook page show how the boys, covered with thermal blankets, were almost entirely cocooned in stretchers and passed hand on hand from one rescuer to another through the tunnels, steep rocky slopes and flooded gullies that make up the cave system.

Mr Anderson said the boys, ranging in age from 11 to 16, were “incredibly resilient.”

“What was really important was the coach and the boys all came together and discussed staying strong, having the will to live, having the will to survive,” he said.

The rescue nearly came to a tragic end when, minutes after the last SEAL left the flooded Tham Luang cave, the industrial pumps that had kept the water at bay all week failed.

From near the cave entrance, Australian Federal Police divers watched the bobbing headlamps of 100 panicked men streaming down the steep rocky canyon from the direction of the rescue command post in Chamber Three, as water levels in the cave began rising before their eyes.

Had that happened hours earlier, the underground rescue effort to free 12 Thai boys and their football coach from deep inside the flooded cave could have ended very differently.

The gutsy determination that helped the boys survive the 10 days alone in the dark until they were discovered by two British divers is now on display in video taken from the hospital isolation ward where they are being treated.

One of the boys, cocooned on a stretcher, is attached to a high line. Picture: Facebook.

“Don’t need to worry about their physical health and even more so for their mental health,” said Chaiwetch Thanapaisal, director of Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital.

“Everyone is strong in mind and heart,” he said at a news conference of officials involved in the rescue.

The last four boys and their soccer coach to be brought out on the final day of the three-day rescue effort have recovered more quickly than the boys rescued on Sunday and Monday, Mr Chaiwetch said.

Even so, all need to be monitored in the hospital for a week and then rest at home for another 30 days, he said. Three have slight lung infections.

Medics prepare to treat one of the boys as he is stretchered away. Picture: Facebook.

Rear Admiral Apakorn Youkongkae, commander of the Navy SEALs said the soccer coach, Ekapol Chantawong, determined the order the boys from the Wild Boars soccer team should be rescued in. “The coach was the one to choose,” he said.

A German paramedic who worked with the British diving team said Mr Ekapol, a 25-year-old former novice monk who was orphaned at 10, was the last of the Wild Boars football team to be carried out of the cave.

“He asked to be the last man out,” revealed the paramedic.

Chiang Rai province Governo. Narongsak Osatanakorn, who oversaw the rescue operation, said the boys should not be blamed for their near tragedy. He lauded the co-operation between Thai and international rescuers.

“The situation went beyond just being a rescue mission and became a symbol of unity among mankind,” he said. “Everyone worked together without discrimination of race or religion as the ultimate goal was to save the youth football team.” Officials plan an interactive museum at the Tham Luang cave based on the historic rescue mission that will feature items such as clothing that key rescuers wore during the operation, Mr Narongsak said.

Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, a public health inspector, said the boys lost an average of two kilograms while they were trapped.

Before their discovery, they survived by drinking water dripping into their cramped refuge. “To not receive food, we can still survive for many months, but what’s necessary is water, which the cave has, and around this time there’s a lot in the cave, and they chose clean water to drink,” he said.

The boys will remain in hospital for a week. Picture: AFP.