Thai Cave rescuers Richard Harris, Craig Challen share stories of 2019 rescue at special Toowoomba Hospital Foundation luncheon

“Acidental heroes” and Thai cave rescuers Richard Harris and Craig Challen shared their incredible story that saw them win Australians of the Year.

Australian cave divers Dr Richard Harris ( left ) and Dr Craig Challen. Tillys Legends at their Games Luncheon to help raise funds for the Darling Downs Health Mental Health Service.. Friday, March 12, 2021. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Toowoomba got the incredible chance to learn from Australia’s “accidental heroes” in Dr Richard Harris and Dr Craig Challen, who played pivotal roles in rescuing 12 children and an adult from an underwater cave in 2019.

The pair of veteran cave divers, who become overnight sensations following the rescue and were named joint Australians of the Year, spoke at Rumours International for the Tillys Legends At Their Game luncheon.

Hosted by the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation, more than 550 attendees helped raise thousands for the Darling Downs Health Mental Health Service.

( From left ) Toowoomba Hospital Foundation chairman Ray Taylor, Madeline Taylor, Dr Richard Harris, Helen Royal, Trish Edwards and Dr Craig Challen. Tillys Legends at their Games Luncheon to help raise funds for the Darling Downs Health Mental Health Service.. Friday, March 12, 2021. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Speaking before the luncheon, Dr Harris said the two men were not prepared for the media whirlwind that came with taking part in the incredible three-hour rescue, which earned attention from across the globe.

“We were just normal guys going about our lives, and after we came back from Thailand and realised it was such a big story, we were thrown into the public limelight, which was neither sought or wanted to begin with,” he said.

“We managed to keep our heads down until we got this amazing accolade of Australian of the Year in 2019, so we realised it was churlish to avoid the spotlight.

“We’ve both been on slightly different paths, but I decided to become involved with a couple of different charities to work with disadvantaged children, and also encourage people to allow their kids off the leash and take a few risks.”

( From left ) Australian cave diver Dr Richard Harris, Helen and Andrew Tilly and Dr Craig Challen. Tillys Legends at their Games Luncheon to help raise funds for the Darling Downs Health Mental Health Service.. Friday, March 12, 2021. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Dr Challen said while the rescue posed little risk to the two experienced divers, it was a gruelling ordeal for the young boys aged between 11 and 16.

“We’ve been interested in cave diving for a long time, because it’s an adventure, but it is a hostile environment potentially, so you’ve got to deal with low visibility conditions, navigate underwater if you get lost, deal with equipment failures,” he said.

“There wasn’t really any great risk for us – we’ve been doing it for decades, but for the kids, I can’t emphasise enough how dangerous it was to extract these kids for a three hour dive through 1500m of underwater passages.

“That is not a place they needed to be, and there were so many things that could’ve gone wrong, and if any of those had, it would have been a disaster.”

THF CEO Alison Kennedy said it was wonderful to listen to the stories of two regular men with extraordinary skill-sets.

“I would say they’re accidental heroes, they were two guys doing what they could,” she said.

“I told them they were maniacs — I can’t get under my bed without getting claustrophobic.”